


The Last Daemon

by rainbow_writer_11



Category: Original Work
Genre: Betrayal, Blood Magic, Character Development, Daemons, Dimension Travel, F/F, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fantastic Racism, Fantasy, Fate & Destiny, Female Character of Color, Gay Character, Hunters & Hunting, LGBTQ Character of Color, Lesbian Character of Color, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, M/M, Magic, Modern Era, Modern Royalty, Multi, Other, POV Queer Character, Pansexual Character, Plot Twists, Portals, Queerplatonic Relationships, Royalty, Saving the World, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Soulmates, Strong Female Characters, Supernatural Elements, Toxic Relationships, Transgender woman of color, Vampires, War, Weird Plot Shit, Werewolves, Witches, Wordcount: 50.000-100.000, gender fluid shapeshifter, not Black and white, sacrificial magic, the slowest of slow burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:20:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 55,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28435269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow_writer_11/pseuds/rainbow_writer_11
Summary: After being struck by lightning and spending a year in a coma, Kyra wakes to a world that thinks she is dead and new abilities she doesn't understand. After discovering what she is, Kyra is forced to pick a side. She must either choose to be with her own kind or stay with the humans she has started to care so much for. Kyra's story is full of twists and turns, love and betrayal. How can she trust anyone when they all have their own agendas? Who will she choose, the beautiful and powerful monster or the handsome and mysterious human? Or will she decide to go her own path and make her own destiny?* Chapters are posted every Tuesday. Possibly more often if you get lucky.*
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos or comments! Let me know if you find any mistakes or have any questions!
> 
> Here's the link to my Spotify playlist inspiration!  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2gGhrhESXq6kalVOiZst0P

The diamond palace was quiet this early in the morning. Only the shuffling feet of servants beginning their daily chores broke the silence. Erin strode briskly towards the Queen's chambers with urgent news. He hoped that this would not alter their plans. He reached the royal purple doors and took a breath to steady himself. The queen was a terrifying woman, unpredictable and ruthless. It was always best to try and prepare for the worst when you were the messenger of poor news. With a look to the armed guard, he was allowed in.  
"Out here," the Queen beckoned. She stood on the balcony, watching the summer sun rise. Her skin shimmered as it reflected the light. As always, she was beautiful in a predatory way. Her skin was near translucent and her cheekbones appeared like sharpened diamonds. All the fae skin shimmered to certain degrees, but none were as effervescent as the queen. She enjoyed wearing colors to accentuate the difference. Today was a simple, yet well made, silver gown. Odds are, there were many spells woven into the fabric and weapons hidden beneath it. Let alone the poisonous needles she hid in her hair. Erin suppressed a fearful shiver. He was a necessary member of the fae court. She would not so easily punish him for being the bearer of bad news.

"Your majesty," Erin said with a quick bow. "There is a new development in the mortal realm. A new daemon is rising."

"Hmm. The Fates always did like their games," the Queen said, seemingly unconcerned.

"A daemon coming into their power, does this change our plans?" Erin asked, carefully hiding his nervousness. He needed to know if he should make any changes.

"No. One more will make little difference. It is too late for them to stop what I have begun. Do you have any other news for me?"

"No, your majesty. Everything else is on schedule."

"You are dismissed." The Queen instructed sharply.

"Yes, your majesty." With another bow, Erin departed, grateful the interaction was over.

While the queen may not have been outwardly concerned, it was certainly interesting for things to be changing so near the end. The queen raised her chin and straightened her back. Doubt was for mortals, not the fae. With a final glance at her kingdom with her silver eyes, she turned back toward her rooms. A busy day was ahead of her. It was time to find more about the new daemon.  
\-----  
I was having strange dreams. A woman with crimson eyes. A man with icy blue eyes telling me to run. Lightning. Pain. Screaming. The world was on fire, everything was burning. The air was filled with smoke. Even though I could see the heat causing the air around me to ripple, I was freezing.


	2. A Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos or comments! Let me know if you find any mistakes or have any questions!
> 
> Here's the link to my Spotify playlist inspiration!  
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2gGhrhESXq6kalVOiZst0P 
> 
> Trigger Warning for panic attacks from here on out

I was familiar with hospitals, I wasn’t a fan of them, but I usually knew what to expect when I was in one. Waking up on a metal table was not something I recognized as normal.

I woke up feeling cold and stiff. My eyes were tightly closed shut and when I opened them it took me a moment to adjust to the harsh lighting in the room. As I sat up, I felt the thin fabric of a hospital gown around me. _Where am I? How did I get here?_ Panic began to overwhelm me. Jumping off the hospital gurney, my feet smacking against the concrete floor, I awkwardly ran to the brown desk that was situated in the corner of the room and grabbed a long blue trench coat off the coatrack and an oversized pair of slippers from under the desk. Peeking out around the door, I saw a sign for the room. I was in the morgue. How the hell did that happen? I didn’t stop to think about it as my fight or flight response quickly decided on flight. Fueled by fear and adrenaline, I quickly made my way to the parking lot and was able to catch the free city bus before it left. My mind was fuzzy, but I remembered the stop to my family home.

Rain started coming down pretty hard as we approached my street. The soothing sound of the water of the roof of the bus calmed me somewhat. My heart was still beating painfully fast, only now I could breathe better. I signaled for my stop and exited the bus. It was only a short walk to my family’s house from there. My legs propelled me towards my old home as quickly as I could without flat out running. Water splashed up my legs and my hair was soaked. I let out a sigh of relief when I turned the corner and caught sight of my parents’ house, there was a car in the driveway. I knocked sharply on the door and it opened after a moment. My mom stood in the doorway, a look of shock on her face as I wrapped my arms around her and started sobbing.

“Mom, I don’t know what’s going on. I woke up in a hospital and no one was there, and it all felt wrong. I had to come home,” I said in between sniffles.

She looked confused but let me in. It was reasonable for her to be confused, I thought. I probably looked like a mess.

“Give me one second, honey,” she said as she disappeared around the corner. I heard a muffled voice, but she quickly returned with some clothes and shoes. “Go ahead and put these on, you look cold. I think these should fit alright.”

I went into the restroom and changed, grateful to be in my own clothes again. My anxiety was catching up with me again. The last time I was with my mother wasn’t a good memory. Things had been said that had never been made up for. Surely, she would still see me as her daughter and help me. Right?

“Mom, is everything alright? Do you know why I was in the hospital?” I asked hesitantly.

“I think you might be mistaken. I’m not your mother. I’ve called for someone to come pick you up and help you get home, okay?” She said cautiously.

“What? What do you mean? If this is a joke, it isn’t funny. I know when we talked last, it wasn’t good, but pretending I’m not your daughter is taking it a bit too far!” I said angrily. I turned to try and point out our family photos that usually were on the wall, except, I wasn’t in them. Some other girl was. She loosely resembled me, but she wasn’t me. My breathing increased and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“Now don’t panic. There’s just been a mix-up somewhere. We’ll get it sorted out, there’s no need to worry.” She seemed almost afraid of me.

A car pulled into the driveway. I peered through the curtains. It was the police.

“You called the cops on me? Something’s wrong, but I’m not dangerous!” My heart was racing. This wasn’t happening. I ran out the sliding glass door and narrowly avoided the cop grabbing me.

“Stop!! I’m just trying to help!” My mother yelled but I kept running. She hadn’t recognized me at all. It was like I had never lived in that house. Everything was replaced by some other person.

I kept running until I couldn’t hear sirens anymore. There was a little café I used to go to in high school a couple blocks away that had public computers. I briskly walked to it and was grateful to see that it wasn’t busy.

I quickly typed my name into the search bar.

Kyra Day found struck by lightning on June 21st, 2018. Extensive fractal scarring known as Lichtenberg figures covered her body. Day spent almost 1 year in a coma and was pronounced dead on June 20th, 2019.

I was mentioned in a local newspaper and they said I was dead. The picture was the same as the girl who I saw in the photos. It was me, but it wasn’t. How could I be dead? I was right here. It felt like I was in a dream, everything was fuzzy around the edges and it got really quiet. A faint buzzing filled my ears, getting louder and louder until it felt like I was going to throw up. I began to slip off the stool. A pair of strong hands grabbed my shoulders, bringing everything back into focus. I looked back and a woman about my age with waist length wavy red hair, light brown skin, and oversized sunglasses was keeping me from falling over.

“It’s alright, Kyra. I’ve got you now,” She said quietly with a small smile. I immediately felt safer.

I took a shaky breath. “Do I know you?” I asked, suspicious after the day I’d had.

“No, you don’t,” She replied, dropping her arms to her sides. “My name’s Gwen and I’m here to help you. Why don’t I get you something to eat and we can talk?”

I nodded slowly, unsure of how to react. Something about this woman felt familiar but I couldn’t place it.

Gwen gestured to the corner booth and I sat down as she ordered a BLT and a coke. That was one of my favorite things that I used to get here.

“Thanks,” I said as she set the plate and drink in front of me. I was steadier now; I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out anymore.

“I know you probably have a lot of questions, not all of which am I going to be able to answer at the moment, but the most important thing to know right now is that you are not crazy,” She said as I guzzled my coke. “What do you remember before waking up in the hospital?”

I stopped. My mind was murky, and I was having trouble focusing on the memories.

“Take your time, I know it’s hard,” Gwen said, patting my hand reassuringly.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember. Then it hit me. A blinding blue light, everything being on fire, my blood burning an icy cold feeling through my veins. I took a sharp breath.

“The lightning, I remember the lightning.”

“That’s good. Do you remember anything before that or anything while you were asleep, any weird dreams?” Her face was blank as she asked this question, but it was hard to read her expressions anyway with the sunglasses covering her eyes.

“I remember… some guy I dreamt about at the hospital. And come to think of it, I dreamt about him for a while before the lightning strike too. But what do some weird dreams have to do with the whole world thinking I’m dead and my own mother calling the police on me because she doesn’t even recognize me anymore? It’s like I never existed. Like I’m not real….” My voice was getting quieter and I was talking more to myself than to the new stranger.

Gwen’s expression twisted into a grimace and then became stern. “Eat your food. Listen closely, everything is important. Everything that you feel, see, dream, every single detail is important. It all means something.” She hesitated and then continued. “Kyra, this is going to be hard for you to hear and there is no good way to say it, but I don’t want you to faint, okay?” She waited for me to nod that I understood. “You are … different from the people around you.”

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion.

“God, I don’t know how to say this. I’ve never had to do this before,” Gwen muttered halfway under her breath. “You aren’t human, Kyra. At least not completely. Not anymore.”

I waited for the punchline. It didn’t come but I laughed anyway. “Look Gwen, I appreciate you buying me dinner and helping me earlier with the panic attack, but I don’t think we are on the same page here,” I said standing up and walking to the door. Fight or flight, I always preferred to run.

“No, wait Kyra,” She yelled as I hastily walked out the door and into the crisp summer night air. It had stopped raining while I was eating and now it had that nice earthy smell.

“Kyra, the human part of you died when you were hit by lightning. You should leave it all in the past and move on, it’ll hurt less that way.”

I felt a tug on my heart, the need to believe her. It made sense somehow. Gwen reached out and touched my shoulder. It felt like getting hit by lightning all over again.

\------

It was dark. The sky was covered in clouds and the crescent moon barely showed through them. Thunder rumbled in the distance. I heard sobbing. There was a little girl, maybe 14, tied to a tree. It smelt like gasoline. Three men were next to her. One was holding a torch, the other a machete. A third man was grabbing her face and shaking it.

“Where are the others? There’s always more than one of you monsters. Tell me where your family is!” The third man yelled inches away from her face. He was older, maybe late forties. His hair was more white than grey, and he had uneven stubble on his face. The other two men were younger. One probably in his late twenties with a dark brown beard and even darker eyes. The youngest was probably about my age, 23- 24 now, I guess. He was holding the machete and he had a terrifyingly violent look on his face.

“I don’t know,” the girl said in between sobs. “Please let me go.”

The oldest man backhanded her. “Of course, you know. We’ll let you go if you tell us where your family is.”

She stopped sobbing and looked at him regarded him carefully. “No, you won’t. You’ll kill me as soon as I say.”

\-----

“What the hell was that?” I hissed pulling away from her.

“Proof,” Gwen said firmly. “Kyra you have gifts no one else in this world has and I can prove it to you.”

“How?” I asked hesitantly.

“Tell me where that vision was, and we will go see for ourselves.”

“Whatever that was, I didn’t see a location even if I did believe you,” I said slowly.

“That’s alright, I’m sure it’ll come to you soon enough. Until then, you’re exhausted. I have a hotel room for two booked for the night. We can stay there and rest up until you see more,” She said with certainty.

I looked at her carefully. It was still so hard to read her facial expressions. I didn’t want to stay with a stranger I just met but it’s not like I had any other choice. Going home wasn’t an option.

“Okay,” I agreed.

Gwen gave me a quick smile and walked over to a shiny red Ferrari.

“This is your car!?”

“Yep, get in.” She was still wearing sunglasses. I was about to ask her about them when a sudden way of calm swept over me. I felt relaxed. I didn’t need to worry about it.

I opened the door and ducked in. After she was certain I had put on my seat belt, she sped off towards the hotel.

“What do you do for a living that you are able to afford this car?” I asked, my suspicions increasing. She just smiled at me, her lips accentuated by the burgundy red lipstick, and continued towards the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa right by the ocean. Again, I felt the need to ask questions and instead chose to brush the feeling aside.

I felt really sleepy in a good way. The sound of the ocean quieted all my anxieties of the day and before I knew it, we were in the hotel room. It was fairly large with two queen sized beds, a little kitchenette, and a large bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. The curtains were pulled open, revealing the partially clouding sky and the waves crashing against the rocky beach.

“I’ve got some clothes for you in the bathroom. The tub is really nice if you want to relax before you sleep,” Gwen suggested with a blank look on her face.

“Um, yeah,” I said. “Sure.” I really did need to shower. My hair was matted, and I could still feel mud on my legs from the puddles I walked through.

I entered the bathroom and locked the door. My clothes were still damp from running in the rain earlier and it was a relief to be out of them. I stepped into the bathtub. The water was hot, almost painfully so but it was exactly what I needed. I carefully scrubbed the hospital off of me. After I washed my hair I felt better. I hated hospitals and the feeling they left on me. I probably could’ve fallen asleep right there, but I pulled the plug and stepped onto the bathmat. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my chest, another to wrap around my thick curly hair. After they both were secure, I looked at the clothes Gwen had left on the counter for me. There were two piles. The first had a matching set of light blue silk pajamas with white underwear and a white undershirt. Underneath the pajamas were a pair of warm fuzzy blue socks. The second pile of clothes had a pair of dark blue jeans, a scoop necked black tank with thick straps, a form fitting red flannel shirt, and a pair of combat boots with thick two-inch heels. I smiled to myself. I used to have shoes like that, and my girlfriend always said they were her favorite on me. Before we broke up at least.

Leaning down to pull on my underwear, I caught a glimpse of my back in the mirror.

“What in the actual fuck?” I whispered to myself. Pale white scars covered my back like a spiderweb or a, a lightning strike. That made sense. The article said I had the scarring from the strike. It was all well healed and faded. I might even think it looked kind of cool in another situation. All I could think now was that it was a permanent reminder of a traumatic event.

I pulled on my full set of pajamas and shook out my hair, avoiding the mirror. It was still damp, but it took too long to blow dry my hair and I was too tired. I flipped my hair upside down and scrunched as much moisture out as I could before hanging up both towels and walking out into the bedroom.

Gwen was already under the covers with a black sleeping mask over her eyes, her long red hair spread over the pillows. I crawled under the sheets of my own bed and pulled my hair off my neck. My hair had grown a lot in the past year. Pre-lightning strike it had been just past my shoulders when dry and now the ringlets were almost halfway down my rib cage. That was cool, I guess. I had always wanted long hair and always ended up cutting it off because it annoyed me. I turned on my side, facing Gwen.

What had possessed me to listen to a single thing she said? At least I was warm and on a bed. I didn’t know what I would’ve done had she not found me when she did. I sighed and reached over to turn out the light.

“Goodnight, Kyra,” She whispered.

“Goodnight, Gwen,” I replied.

The light went out and I closed my eyes, hoping for good dreams.

\-----

I was standing in a forest in sight of a lake. This place looked familiar. I walked closer. This was Lake Tahoe; I was sure of it. I used to come here on trips with my family when I was a kid. On the last such vacation I was maybe 13. They were fond memories, my 3 younger siblings and 2 dogs crammed into a minivan driving for hours as we listened to the soundtracks of various musicals. I would have been happy to sit by the lake and reminisce about my childhood but the sound of rustling branches and pounding footsteps drew my attention.

It was that young girl again. Her face was clearer now; she had chin length brown hair and was wearing pajamas. She was running from something. It turned out to be someone’s as the three men from earlier followed her out onto the beach. The girl turned to face them, realizing she was cornered with the lake at her back. She started to mumble in another language, Latin maybe. Before she could finish the youngest man hit her on the top of her head with the handle of his machete. Her body crumpled to the ground and a thin trickle of blood slid down her forehead. I reached out, wanting to do something but I knew I wasn’t really there.

Suddenly it felt as if the ground had disappeared and I was falling into the cloudy night sky. All I could see were the bright pinpoints of light from the stars. I heard a man’s voice.

“Kyra, you acted in self-defense, no one is blaming you for that,” he said.

Another man spoke. “I’ve never heard of a psychic who could do anything more than see vague outlines. They never know enough to make them anything more than a pain in the ass and I’ve never known a witch who could throw a man through a tree.”

The sky darkened and the stars disappeared. A face came into focus. It was familiar, a man with icy blue eyes and shaggy dark brown hair.

\-----


	3. Lake Tahoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of filler and backstory. Don't worry, the action is coming next chapter.

I woke up slowly. It was still dark out and the digital clock on the nightstand said 4:18 am. My clothes were soaked with sweat and I was cold. It felt like I had bricks weighing down on my chest. Icy sharp pains spiraled through my skin. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to breath. I was having another panic attack. I’d had them before today, and I knew how I was supposed to deal with them. My first one was when I was 18 right before my high school graduation. I’d had another my first day of college and then again, every few weeks. Each one felt like I was dying but eventually I came to see them as a normal part of life. It was awful, but I just had to bear it until I calmed down. I tried to focus on steadying my breathing. My quick shallow breaths deepened, and I relaxed my clenched fists. A few more minutes passed, and I was through the worst of it. I curled up into a ball, pulled the covers over my shoulders, and closed my eyes. Sleep found me quickly and the rest of my dreams were uneventful, nothing that I could remember when the smell of bacon woke me up several hours later.

I opened my eyes and took a moment to adjust to my surroundings. Gwen was sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading a newspaper. She was wearing a button up white sleeveless blouse that was so thin it was almost see through, blue skinny jeans, white high heeled sandals, and large blue sunglasses.

“Do you always wear sunglasses?” I asked, sitting up from the bed and pushing my curly brown hair out of my eyes.

“I have a sensitivity to light,” She replied not even looking up from her newspaper. “I ordered room service: bacon, blue berry waffles, apple juice, coffee.”

“Thanks,” I said, slipping out from underneath my blankets and sitting down across from her. “Let’s say I do believe you, that I’m different- have these visions or whatever they are- what does that make me?”

Gwen set her newspaper down. “It makes you a psychic and I’m willing to bet that you are a strong one from the vibes I get off you.”

“What vibes?”

“Let’s just say I have a sixth sense when it comes to people. I trust my instincts,” she replied but I didn’t entirely believe her. Gwen was definitely keeping something from me. Almost everything she said was suspicious as hell.

“I had another weird dream last night. It was the same people, but I recognized the place this time. It was by Lake Tahoe,” I said watching her face carefully.

“Good,” she said. “You slept in pretty late- not that I’m judging- but we can be there by tonight. Did you see any indication of when it was going to happen?” This was starting to feel like an interrogation.

“No but…”

“But what?” She asked.

“I think it’s going to be soon.” I went with my gut instinct. I had no other real indicators of the time, so I decided to just throw out my best guess.

“What are you seeing exactly?” She asked.

I opened my mouth to tell her but then I stopped. “I’m not going to tell you; I don’t want you setting it up or something. I want to see for myself that I’m not being manipulated or anything. I need to be sure.” It was hard to refuse to answer her. My words came out tangled but at least I said it.

Gwen frowned. “That’s fair enough but you know you can trust me, right?”

She reached over and touched my hand. I felt instantly calm and relaxed. I could trust her, couldn’t I? She felt safe but something told me to be careful. She was a liar, you can’t trust liars.

I pulled my hand back. “No, I don’t. I’m going to get dressed.”

“But you haven’t touched your food yet!”

“I’m not hungry,” I said, closing myself in the bathroom.

I quickly got dressed and turned to look at myself in the mirror. What was I doing here? Why am I trusting some random chick telling me crazy things? Gwen just seemed so familiar and safe even though anytime she spoke it sounded wrong. I couldn’t place it. I sighed and started trying to untangle the mess of curls on my head. I got it somewhat presentable, an extra messy beach wave look crossed with swamp witch. I sighed, it would have to do because there was no way I was going to try and brush it out and put it up. I bent down and put on my shoes. I wondered how she knew my exact size. That was another question to add to the growing list that I had been putting off asking because she told me to.

“Ready to go?” She asked as I exited the bathroom.

“Sure,” I replied somewhat sullenly.

Gwen picked up her duffle bag and shoved my old clothes and nightwear into it. She slung the bag over her shoulder, handed me my to go cup of coffee, and picked up her purse. She quickly left the room and I followed after her. Gwen tossed the duffle bag into the trunk of her car and we started towards Tahoe.

“You sure you’re not hungry?” She asked.

“I’m too nervous to eat,” I said truthfully.

“Well you should at least drink something, if you don’t want your coffee then there are some water bottles at your feet,” Gwen said.

She reminded me of my girlfriend from college. Her name was Katherine and she had a beautiful smile and dark brown hair. I’d always had a thing for brunettes. Katherine was the prettiest most charismatic person I knew. She would make sure I drank enough water and ate something with nutritional value every day because otherwise she knew I would live off of cherry coke and chicken nuggets. I’d cared for her a lot, probably even loved her, but we broke up before graduation. I’d like to think it was because we were heading in two different directions, she wanted to travel the world spending her wealthy family’s money and I wanted to go to veterinary school. In reality, she got clingy and possessive, even paranoid, towards the end of our relationship. Katherine wanted to know where I was at all times, didn’t want me going out with other friends without her, and had this unfounded fear that I was going to leave her. It turned out that her reaction to being afraid I was leaving was what caused me to leave.

I turned to face the window. It looked like it was going to rain again, it was always raining in Monterey which was part of why I liked it there. We spent the rest of the car ride mostly in silence. Gwen tried to start up a conversation a few times, but I was too tired to carry one. I did eventually drink my coffee along with my water bottle which led to a stop at a Wendy’s where she convinced me to eat something. As we drove into Tahoe, I started feeling a lot better.

We parked the car near the beach and started walking around the shore, I was trying to find the exact spot I saw in my vision.

“The lake has a 70 something mile circumference, if we have to walk all along it to find the spot it will take days. Do you remember anything more specific?” Gwen said after a couple minutes of googling on her phone.

I closed my eyes trying to remember any details. There had been a boat tethered to the shore. That wasn’t particularly helpful, the whole lake was full of boats. I looked around. There was a small island across the lake, it looked familiar.

“I think it’s over there right behind that little island,” I said gesturing with my hand.

“Okay, guess we are going to need a boat,” Gwen said, not looking too happy. “Let’s get back in the car and find somewhere to rent a boat.”

It turns out that was easier said than done. It was the summer, and everyone was out on the water, we were barely able to find a kayak that could fit us both.

“Hey, Gwen,” I said.

“What?”

“Isn’t Tahoe also miles in diameter, I haven’t kayaked a day in my life, I don’t know how you plan on getting us across before dark,” I said as I put on my life jacket.

“Leave that to me,” She said.

We were slow at first as we kicked off the shore but soon, we sped up. The kayak was going much faster than it should’ve given the rate I was paddling. I turned to glance back at Gwen. She wasn’t even rowing, just sitting very still, her brown skin reflecting the setting sun’s light. It seemed like she was glowing.

“What the hell?” I said.

“Focus on where we’re going Kyra. I’m not ready to have this conversation yet, definitely not here,” She said briskly, her voice strained.

I listened, though I wasn’t sure why. If you see a woman glowing, then you are going to have some questions. I turned around and sat straight. Clouds were coming in and blocking the evening sun. What was with this rain, it was like it was following us or something. Wind whipped through my hair and I was glad I had kept my flannel shirt on. The waves from the lake sprayed us as we zipped across the water.

“Um, you might want to slow down,” I cautioned as we swiftly approached the shore. We came to a jolting stop as we reached our destination. I got out of the kayak and worked to fight back the nausea; I felt awful. Thunder rumbled through the sky.

I opened my mouth to speak but Gwen cut me off. “Don’t speak, just sit here and wait until your vision comes true. That’ll be the proof you need to believe what I’m saying. I’ll tell you more once this night is over.”

I listened once again, sitting on a raised tree root underneath a large tree. Rain started to fall. Gwen made a noise, almost a hiss as the droplets of water hit her.

She mumbled under her breath so low I could only here pieces. “Goddammit… rain… stop… wasting… making… weak.”

I frowned, not understanding anything that was going on and not able to make a single difference. I leaned my head against the tree and closed my eyes. I was so tired again. I dozed off until the sound of rustling branches woke me.


	4. The Making of a Murderer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: violence, death

A squirrel crawled out of the woods, saw us, and ran up a tree. I breathed a sigh of relief. Gwen was sitting a few feet away from me, eyes focused intently on my face.

“What?” I asked, yawning.

“You looked peaceful while you slept,” She said smiling softly.

“That’s a little creepy,” I said, not really meaning it. Gwen shrugged unapologetically.

“How did you know my name, when we were in the café,” I asked finally feeling brave enough to ask questions.

“I knew you before the lightning strike. I kept an eye on you because I always suspected you were special. I never let you know I was there, but I like to think I kept you safe from other things,” Gwen said quietly.

“What do you mean ‘other things’?” I asked her.

“There are things out there, real monsters, who would kill and worse to have the ability to see the future. I never wanted you to become some thing’s pawn. I wanted you to be able to be free to choose how you used your ability,” She replied. Part of that didn’t sound completely true. I couldn’t say how I knew but she wasn’t being completely honest. She was choosing her words a little too carefully, a little too well calculated to be telling the whole truth.

“How did you find me?” I continued my questioning, carefully studying her facial expression.

“I went to the morgue to look for you, suspecting you weren’t really dead,” Gwen continued, more lies. “When I didn’t find you there, I went to your family home, suspecting you would go there instinctually. I saw you run out of your house and I stopped at the places you used to visit when you lived there before.”

“How long were you watching me?” I asked. “Before the lightning strike I mean.”

She hesitated. “I noticed you when you were in high school. You had a special… aura. Something unique so I kept watching and saw more evidence to support my theory that you were something other than human.”

“What evidence?” I asked, surprised she was answering so many questions even if half of what she said was a lie.

“Test scores, your interactions with people, the way you were around animals was a solid one. The supernatural usually have a stronger connection with animals than humans. Your panic attacks-”

“You know about those?” I said, surprised.

“Yes, it wasn’t hard to see how much anxiety you had which is a classic symptom of someone who is supernaturally hyperaware of the world around them.”

“But almost everyone has anxiety, a lot of people worse than me. Does that mean they are psychic too?”

“No, not at all. It’s a symptom, it doesn’t automatically make them different. Sometimes they are. A lot are empaths, some low-level telepaths- just able to get small glimpses into minds without even realizing what they’re doing. Some get déjà vu but it never is a useful skill. The majority, though, are very definitely human. Even empaths and telepaths and the majority of low-level psychics are considered human. It’s only when we get to someone like you who sees the future clearly and goes through the physical change that you did in that coma, that’s when you stop being human and start being a- something else.”

I understood part of what she was saying, but she was hiding something from me. What was she talking about “we”?

“Why did the lightning and the coma make me different? What does that have to do with my – theoretical, I’m not saying I believe you- but what does it have to do with my ability?”

“That’s complicated.” Gwen just didn’t want to tell me.

“And how were you watching me in high school? You can’t be more than a year or two older than me?”

“Looks are deceiving, Kyra.” Before I could continue asking all my questions about something I still refused to completely accept, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and frowned. “I’ve got to take this.” Gwen got up and started walking away.

“This isn’t a good time Kal,” She said sounding irritated.

As she walked away, I could’ve sworn I heard something out in the woods again. I looked towards the noise, suspecting another small woodland creature. Gwen had her back to me, standing about twenty feet away whispering into her phone. It was still gently raining but the night sky was completely covered by dark storm clouds. I peered into the woods. It was too dark to see much of anything other than the dark silhouettes of trees. Something moved in the shadows. I briefly locked eyes with the girl from my vision before she changed directions and disappeared into the woods.

“Wait!” I yelled as I kept to my feet and chased after her. She wasn’t supposed to exist, this was all just supposed to be some prank, some bad dream, I wasn’t supposed to come here and actually see someone I had dreamt about. I pushed the tree branches out of my way and stumbled through the bushes, uncertain if I was even going in the right direction. Icy sharp spikes of adrenaline coursed through my veins when I caught sight of her once again and sped up after her.

“Damn these stupid boots!” I muttered to myself.

“Wait!” I yelled again, louder this time. My heel caught on a root and I hit the muddy ground hard. My eyes filled with blotchy spots of light and my ears were ringing. Pulsing pain came from my jaw, right shoulder, and right knee. A warm liquid trickled down my chin. I had bit my lip. At least I didn’t knock out any teeth. I slowly pulled myself off the ground, stumbling to my feet. I was sore, but I didn’t think anything was broken. I tried to brush off some of the mud, but it didn’t really do much more than smear it on.

“Shit.” I had no idea where the girl was, or which way was back to the kayak. How could I have been so stupid? ‘Don’t run into the woods at night in a strange place during a thunderstorm’ should be common sense but I just chased right in.

Lightning cracked across the sky, illuminating my surroundings for a brief moment. A shape moved in the darkness, vaguely human. Someone was out there, and it wasn’t the little girl. The rain started coming down hard. I turned to run in the other direction, remembering the violent men from my vision. I’d been so excited to see the girl that I’d forgotten the very real danger I was now in. I was trapped in a thunderstorm, in the woods, with a bunch of kidnapping psychos with machetes and guns. Branches scraped my face as I tore my way through the dense brush. Footsteps pounded behind me, but I was blindsided and tackled from my right. I hit my head and ribs against the ground.

“We caught another one!” The man who tackled me yelled as he dragged me up by my hair. I was too dizzy to fight back, I felt like I could barely move, everything hurt. He switched his flashlight on and shined it in my face. “This one’s grown!” He yelled back to his partner.

“Gag her,” said the older man as he approached us.

“Get off me!” I hissed, hitting the man who was holding my hair. The older man pulled a gun out of the waistband of his bands and pressed it to my forehead. I put my hands in the air and froze.

“Put these on,” The older man ordered, handing me a pair of handcuffs while keeping the gun pointed at me. I obeyed, putting them around my wrist but trying to keep them loose enough that I could slip out of them. The man noticed. “Make them tighter.” I tightened the cuffs until they were biting into my skin. My heart was pounding. The younger man let go of my hair and wrapped a bandana around my mouth.

“You try to talk or run, we’ll shoot you, decapitate you, and burn you to ash. Even one of your kind can’t survive that. Nod if you understand.” I nodded, just trying to play along while having no idea what the hell he was talking about. What did he mean “one of your kind”? I hoped Gwen was okay, I wished I had let her know what my visions were about, so she could’ve been prepared for the worst-case scenario.

The older man- maybe the other two guys’ dad? - turned around and started walking the way he had come. The son pushed me so I would follow. We walked to a small clearing, the edges protected by the shade of trees and outlined with torches. The young girl was tied to a tree and gagged. Her pajamas were covered in mud and the youngest son crouched next to her, holding his machete. I took in my surroundings as my eyes adjusted to the soft light from the torches. I got a better look at the kidnappers. They were definitely related, each with the same rough facial features and similar thick builds complete with thin scattered facial hair. Each carried a gun, a machete, and a flashlight somewhere on their person. Next to the girl was a small red container of gasoline. As we reached the center of the clearing, the older brother kicked the back of my right knee and I collapsed on the ground.

“Maybe now that we have one of your coven, you’ll feel like talking to us,” The younger brother said to the girl, removing her gag.

“I don’t know her, she’s not from my coven. Ask her, she’ll tell you!” The girl tried to explain. The younger brother slapped her hard across her cheek, the sound clear through the rainfall.

“We know you’re lying; your kind always lies. We wouldn’t be so stupid to let an adult speak to us,” He said. “If you don’t tell us where your coven is, we’re gonna kill your friend here, do you understand?”

The girl nodded, obviously trying to avoid being struck again. What was all this talk about covens? Like vampires, or was it witches? Maybe it was a religious cult sort of thing.

“Where does your coven practice?” He asked calmly. Maybe the kidnappers were religious extremists. The girl hesitated, scrunching her face in confusion as she tried to figure out how best to answer. Apparently, she waited too long because I got a swift kick to the stomach by the guy standing closest to me. I keeled over, gasping in pain, the sound muffled by the bandana.

“You’re going to kill us anyway!” She shouted. “I can’t tell you just so you can kill everyone else too.” I had to hand it to this kid, she was braver than me. I probably would’ve said anything to get away. But maybe she was right, maybe these people were just serial killers willing to do anything to find their next victim.

“If you tell us where they are, we’ll let you both go,” The younger brother said. He was lying, I could see it written all over his face.

“No… you’re lying…. Witch hunters never let anyone live,” The girl said as tears slipped down her cheeks. So, this was a witch thing.

“Fine then, have it your way,” he said.

The man closest to me kicked me again in the stomach, and then my ribs, my back. He kicked me in the face, and I blacked out for a moment, not nearly long enough because he just kept kicking me relentlessly. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t even think. I just wanted it to stop. Thunder rumbled and lightning lit up the sky. After what was probably only a few minutes that felt stretched into hours, the girl yelled for them to stop. The older brother stopped kicking me. Instead he pulled his gun out and pointed it at me.

“Tell us where they are right now or I’m going to kill her,” He said. “Her blood will get all over you. Her death will be your fault.”

“Please,” She begged.

“I’m going to count down from ten and if I don’t have names and locations by the time I reach zero, my brother is going to put a bullet in her head. Then you’re next,” the younger brother said. I took a breath, wincing at the movement.

“10.”

I tried to sit up and failed. I didn’t want to die lying down.

“9.”

I sat up and looked at the girl, pleading for my life with my eyes. I didn’t want to die at all.

“8.”

The girl looked down; she wasn’t going to save me.

“7.”

The rain poured and the wind whipped my muddy hair around my head.

“6.”

My face felt cold in a strangely comforting way, the feeling spread down my neck and chest.

“5.”

I was terrified. Was this really how I was going to die? Beaten and then murdered, all alone. No one to miss me.

“4.”

I closed my eyes and tried to think of home, my family, happier memories but I couldn’t focus on anything but the countdown till I died.

“3.”

I’d never really believed in a god or an afterlife, even so, I prayed that there was one.

“2.”

I felt calm, the ice had spread through the rest of my body and I couldn’t feel the pain anymore.

“1.”

A wave of energy filled me, and I opened my eyes. To hell with dying on my knees. The rain stopped and everything seemed to stand still.

“0.”

Brilliantly blue lightning filled the sky as I leapt to my feet and shoved the older brother as hard as I could. The cuffs around my wrists shattered in the process and he went flying several feet into the air, knocking over his father and hitting a tree with a sickening crunch. He was dead. I could tell just by looking at him, the way his torso was twisted unnaturally. Completely oblivious to my surroundings, I ran over to him. I ripped the gag off my mouth and checked his throat for a pulse, I knew there wouldn’t be one and still I checked anyway, hoping I was wrong. I wasn’t.

“No no no! You can’t be dead. I just shoved you, I didn’t mean… I just didn’t want to die…,” I said in between sobs.

“You bitch! You killed my brother!” The younger man said as he stepped around his unconscious father and charged me. At the same moment, a very angry looking red head stepped in between him and me. He ignored Gwen and kept going until she caught him by the throat and lifted him two feet in the air. He flailed, grabbing at her face but only succeeding in knocking off her sunglasses and revealing her blood red eyes.


	5. A Carefully Made Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction to our mysterious 'Kal' 
> 
> Trigger warning: nongraphic infant/child/adult death

**KALDAR**

Calling Guinevere hadn’t been ideal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave Scotland and travel to Australia to pull Christopher from whatever hole he was hiding in. My work was too important and too unstable to be left. This made me resort to using my deal with Guinevere to assist me in aligning the others. I didn’t understand what she saw in the mortal girl. Not particularly pretty, or intelligent, maybe she possessed a skill worth exploiting. I couldn’t sense anything unusual off her when I had swung by for a visit. The girl was surrounded by Guinevere’s magic.

For centuries, I had discouraged any long-term fraternization with the mortals. It was hazardous to the mind, among other reasons. I had even taken it upon myself to dispose of the occasional mortal attachment when the others could not. Inconspicuously, of course. An accident here, a terminal illness there. Love was such a dangerous disease. The ability of the others to love made them inferior. 

Presently, I cared little for the others’ inferiority. In fact, I would go as far as to say I encouraged it. My strength increased by the day and my plans remained on schedule. Weakening them only made things progress more smoothly. Regardless of how beneficial it was to me, I could not allow the others to see my shadow shrouded actions. They knew I was powerful, a merciless god. They knew I wouldn’t hesitate to harm them should they outwardly attack my dominion. What they needed, was to feel secure in the false idea that their loyalty gave them protection from me. If they became suspicious of any interference on my behalf too soon, it would not bode well for a calm exchange of power.

Nevertheless, I was not concerned with the others discovering anything I did not wish them to know. While they were old, none were as old as me. While they were strong, none could match my own strength. While some may even be cunning, none compared to me. I watched them all carefully, tracking their movements and behaviors. Observing any new players in our game. No witch covens concerned me. No hunters had even come close to us since the failed attack years ago. Everything was going according to plan.

I straightened my collar before leaving the room I had so graciously been gifted. My feet were silent as I strode down the stone corridor towards my thrown room. Shocked faces of the humans amused me when they realized I was close. The element of surprise was always important to me, in this case, it was for dramatic affect.

Pushing open the doors with a small gust of magic, I made my way to my thrown. I didn’t sit. Instead, I stood in front of it and stared down at the daemon in front of me.

“Akinyi, it has been too long,” I said in a form of greeting.

Akinyi gave a curt nod. She was a woman of few words, a generally admirable trait.

“I have been made aware of a change in the ley lines of Africa. Do you care to comment on that?” I didn’t particularly care for her answer. I knew exactly what was happening to the lay lines. It was, after all, my design. The others didn’t know that. However, they would be suspicious if I remained silent on the decreasing magic across some of the continents.

“I do not spend all my time in my homeland. Recently, I have been in Canada for most of the year,” Akinyi stated.

“Does it not concern you that magic appears to be disappearing from your place of origin?”

“While it is not ideal, it does me no harm. Do I have reason to be concerned?” Akinyi arched a sculpted eyebrow at me, one of the only changes in her steeled expression.

“I have reason to suspect fae involvement in our dimensions magic concentrations.” I remained calm as I allowed the words to sink in. A trick, of course.

“They would dare to mount an attack of this type?” Mild fury crossed her face. I had framed the fae for the death of her lover in the 1800s. She still sought vengeance.

“It is unclear exactly their purpose in this offense. I would caution, however, that if the magic being displaced is not found, it may be used against us.”

“How would you have me act in our defense?” Akinyi asked.

“There is a fae ball in several weeks’ time. I have been invited, theoretically as a show of peace between our kind. It sounds to me to be the prime time for an ambush of some sort. In preparation, I am requiring all of us to attend as a show of strength.”

“I understand. It would not do to have any one of us on our own, should the fae decide to act. I will stand beside you.” Akinyi gave a small bow of respect.

I nodded. “I appreciate your loyalty. I will send you the details soon.”

She nodded and turned to leave.

“And Akinyi?”

She tilted her head to indicate she was listening.

“Stay vigilant in these coming weeks,” I instructed. “Anything unusual, must be reported.”

“Of course, Kaldar.”

Akinyi exited my throne room and I could almost feel the rage coming off of her. She was one of the few who could remain composed, despite their emotions. Even so, she still did feel as strongly as the others. It was a weakness quite easily exploited. Ever since I disposed of her mortal and blamed the fae, she had been the most loyal of the others. She knew I was the strongest deterrent against the fae and aligned herself with me in order to seek her chance at revenge. It had been almost two centuries since then and she was still patiently waiting for her time to strike. Not to worry. Soon, she would have her chance to use all her skill in magic on an attack of the fae. Whether or not she would survive the attack, that was yet to be decided.

**AKINYI**

I had gone to the river to collect water. The sky was clear and there was a light breeze. The sound of running water was the last thing I remembered before the darkness. My lungs burned for a few moments before I drifted into a sort of sleep. Only vaguely aware of my surroundings, I stayed in the river, floating along until I was caught in the roots of a tree. There I remained in silence for what felt like forever. Occasionally I would feel the pressure of an animal attempting to bite me, it never was able to pierce my skin or cause me discomfort.

While this situation may sound like hell- being trapped under water for a year, unable to even open your eyes- for me, it was relatively peaceful. I felt nothing, no fear and no happiness. Just the emptiness that this state provided me with. The state I was in reminded me of the brief moments of silence experienced when observing a sunrise or the moment before falling asleep. The absolute quiet and calm emptiness of that moment. Instead of lasting a minute, it lasted a year. Somedays I wish I had never risen from it. Unfortunately for the world, I did in fact, rise.

Waking underwater for the first time in a year was a panic filled moment. I couldn’t breathe, not that I truly needed to, but I had yet to realize how different I was. After such a long time of feeling nothing, the presence of the world was painful. The chill of the water, the burning of my lungs, the sting in my eyes. Hunger, thirst, exhaustion. Fear. All these things became a part of me once I woke. The roots of the tree had wrapped around me and caged me within them. I struggled against them, pounding and tearing with my hands. My fists shattered them as I fought to escape. With the tree out of my way, reaching the surface was simple and I dragged myself onto the muddy riverbank coughing up water. I clawed my way onto drier land, rolling onto my back and staring into the brilliant blue of the sky. Relishing the way the air filled my lungs, I breathed deeply. The sun warmed me as I became conscious of my situation.

My clothes were all but nonexistent and I surely resembled something monstrous. I could feel the plants that grew in my hair and reached up to tear them out. I was much farther down river than when I started. I was lucky that I was still within walking distance of my home and that I recognized my surroundings at all. Fortunately for me, the trees were quite distinguishable from each other and following the river home would be a simple task. At this point in my rising, I did not realize how much time had passed. I didn’t understand what happened, I only felt a need to return home. 

I walked all day, covering a surprising amount of ground without noticing. The world felt like it does in a dream. Fluid, inconsistent, fast moving. The sun had sunk deep into the horizon before I returned home. I walked to my home and entered the dwelling. My movements startled my husband and another awake. A woman. My children and a baby were woken as well.

“What sort of demon are you? To wear the face of the dead?” My husband yelled, reaching for his spear. The woman reached for the children defensively. Surely, I did not appear so fearsome as to be unrecognizable entirely.

My heart dropped as I quickly noticed how my children had changed. Was this no longer my home? How had my children grown so much? How long was I gone?

“It is me, Akinyi, your wife,” I insisted, keeping my appearance calm, though a storm was brewing within me.

“Be gone, creature,” my husband said, swiping at me with the sharp head of the spear. It scratched my skin, drawing blood and stirring the chaos already present in me. The pain shocked me into a strange state of awareness. This was all wrong. Had my husband said I wore the face of the dead? Was I dead? A spirit or demon of some kind? I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The children began to cry, they were so young when I was gone, now did they even recognize me? I couldn’t breathe. The air was too thick. I was suffocating. We were all suffocating. The world faded to nothing around me and I collapsed to the ground.

When I woke, the sun was rising in the east as it always did. I was momentarily at peace, recognizing my home. This feeling was shattered as I saw the empty stares of the dead collapsed on the floor. My children, my husband, the woman, and the infant were all dead.

A cry left my lips and I stumbled backwards. I collected myself as best I could and reached to check for life in what was once my family. All were dead and cold.

I left the hut, preparing to sneak away from my village, but all was silent. At this hour, there should be some noise from the morning chores. No one was out of their huts. A nervous curiosity settled over me and I began to peak through the other doorways. They were still sleeping, so perfectly motionless and without a sound. I crept closer. They had no breath. I went house by house in a blind panic. All were dead.

\----

I rarely allowed myself the chance to relive the pain of the past. Life had not been kind to my and the Fates must be amused by my losses. The reason I… indulged… in a moment of suffering was because it fueled my magic. Pain, anger, loss all made me able to access deeper magics. I needed to prepare for the possibility of a coming battle. The fae were not an easy enemy to war with and while I did not trust Kaldar, I did trust our shared hatred in them.


	6. Deal With the Weird Shit

Gwen’s grip tightened around his throat, squeezing until his face was red. I sprinted over to the girl and untied her. The moment she was loose, she took off and disappeared into the night. I turned back to Gwen and watched horrified as she crushed the man’s neck. He fell to the ground; his face was dark purple, and his eyes were bulging out of his face. That was enough for me, I ran without giving it a second thought.

“Kyra, wait!” Gwen yelled but I was too far already. I didn’t stop. I just knew I had to keep going and I had this gut instinct which way was towards the kayak.

Running surprisingly fast considering my extensive injuries, I reached the kayak before Gwen caught up to me. I hesitated when I saw her purse. How would I keep going without a car or money? I definitely didn’t want her following me. Grabbing her purse, I jumped into the kayak and paddled as fast as I could. My muscles ached and it felt like time had blurred. I didn’t know how long I’d been rowing before I hit the sandy beach on the opposite side of the lake. I stumbled out of the kayak and up the rocky incline to the parking lot. Without hesitation I fished the keys out of Gwen’s purse and got into the car. My hands were shaking, and I fumbled as I tried to put the key in the ignition but once I did, I reversed at a dangerously fast speed out of the parking lot. The tires squealed against the asphalt as I took off towards the freeway.

After about ten minutes zipping down the freeway, my adrenaline came down, leaving me with the pain of my injuries. I kept going. I had no idea where I was headed but I knew North was the direction I needed to go. I was heading somewhere safe, somewhere I needed to be. I honestly didn’t care at this point, as long as it was far away from Gwen and those dead bodies.

An overwhelming feeling of nausea came over me and I almost spilled my guts right then and there. Tears slipped over my eyelids and my breath hitched in my throat. The memory of that man’s spine snapping replayed over and over again. How had I done that? I’d heard of freak incidents when people did impossible things because of adrenaline but throwing a man that far?

At least the girl got away, I thought to myself. I’d saved her, right? That made it all okay. I’d killed him in self-defense, and no one could blame me for that. But it didn’t matter if that was true or not. I blamed myself. What sort of monster must I be to kill someone that easily? What if he had kids? Someone who missed him?

I wiped my face off with the back of my hand. Now I was covered in mud, blood, and tears. How could Gwen not have known about the weird super strength? An idea came to me. Gwen must have known that whole time that I wasn’t just some psychic, that’s why it always felt like a lie when she talked about it. What sort of psychic can throw a man like it was nothing? Better yet, what the hell was she? Glowing red eyes, superhuman strength, and whatever that power was that made the boat go so fast- all those things didn’t exactly scream “human” either. All I knew for sure was that I’d made a terrible mistake. I’d been played into trusting a pretty face and it ended bloody. I was worse off than I’d started. Now I was a murderer.

I headed north, that was all I could make myself do. I don’t know how long I’d been driving before the sky started to brighten and I realized dawn was approaching. I pulled off the freeway and into the back of a motel parking lot. Rummaging around in Gwen’s purse, I found she carried thousands of dollars in cash. No credit cards, no license, no identification of any kind, just a shit ton of cash. Not for the last time, I asked myself what sort of person had I gotten mixed up with? I grabbed the purse and the duffel and went to check in.

“Hi how can I- are you alright miss?” The receptionist asked.

“Oh yeah, I know I must look terrible. I got caught out hiking last night and this freak storm hit. There was a flash flood and I got knocked off my feet, got pretty beat up, but I’m okay. Nothing more than some dirt and bruises,” I rambled through my excuse, hoping he would by it.

He seemed sympathetic. “Do you want me to call you an ambulance? There’s a hospital not too far away. I could have someone drive you if you need it?”

“No, no! I’m fine, really. It looks much worse than it is. I just need a shower and some sleep, and I’ll be good to go.”

“If you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I am,” I lied through my teeth. My body protested any movement and my bruises had bruises.

“Okay, what size room would you like?” He asked.

“Whatever’s the smallest,” I answered.

“And how will you be paying today?” He asked after clicking around on his desktop computer.

“Um cash,” I said.

“$64.28 is your total.” I handed him the cash.

After giving me my change and keycard, he said, “Wait here a minute.” He disappeared into the back room. I tensed, preparing for anything.

“Here are some extra towels, just in case. Let me know if you need anything at all,” He said when he returned, handing me an extra stack of white towels.

I sighed and smiled. “Thank you so much.”

My room was on the first floor and was near where I’d parked the Ferrari. The sun was had almost completely risen as I stepped into my room. I locked and bolted the door behind me and made sure to completely close the curtains. Dropping my purse and duffle bag, I headed to the bathroom. Carefully avoiding the mirror, I attempted to remove my clothes. The flannel came off easy enough. The rest of the clothing was problematic. The undershirt and jeans were practically fused to my wounds with blood and dirt.

“Fuck it,” I said, kicking off my shoes and stepping into the running shower without even bothering to remove my socks. I leaned against the wall and sank to the ground, allowing the water to run over me. Eventually my clothes had loosened enough to peel them off. It wasn’t the most comfortable process but at least I was getting clean. I was glad to finally scrub off the mud, it felt as if I was scrubbing away what had happened. My hair was the hardest to clean, it had accumulated the most mud and my scalp was covered in tiny scratches from falling. I shampooed my hair until I had used all the free motel products and finished washing off.

When I stepped out of the shower and saw my reflection in the mirror, I barely recognized myself. My face was covered in splotchy dark purple bruises along my jawline, both eyes, and forehead. The same deep purple and blue bruises covered my arms, shoulders, ribs, hips, and legs. There was as much bruised skin as there was untouched skin. A rarely large gash on my side was still slowly oozing blood and I had some minor cuts that seemed to be starting to close on my knees. No wonder the guy had seemed so worried, I looked like I got hit by a bus. Felt like it, too.

Gingerly wrapping myself in a towel, I walked to the duffel and pulled out the blue pajamas. I slid them on and tucked a towel between the cut on my ribs and my top to stop the bleeding. The bed wasn’t particularly comfortable, but I was grateful to sleep after the night I just had. Crawling under the covers, I hoped I could sleep peacefully and forget everything.

\----

I couldn’t tell if this was real or not. There was the man with blue eyes and messy brown hair lying on the ground in front of me but his eyes were green this time. Blood trickled down his forehead and he reached out his hand to me. I thought he was reaching for help but instead he pointed his finger at me and said,” You could’ve saved me. This is all your fault.” His eyes closed and he faded away into the darkness.

The dream remained dark for a few moments and then brightened, illuminating the same man but he was alive and looked just fine.

“Hi, I’m James ******,” he said but his last name was muffled. I couldn’t understand it. James reached out to take my hand and when his skin touched mine it felt like he’d burned me. I recoiled in pain.

“What’s wrong,” He asked.

“What are you?” I said.

“That’s not really the nicest question to ask someone.”

James disappeared once again, and I heard the familiar sound of heels clicking a hard floor.

“Stop running Kyra, come back to me,” Gwen’s voice said. I caught a glimpse of red, but I couldn’t focus on her. There was something obscuring my view.

\----

I jolted awake, panicking because I couldn’t remember where I was for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I went through the events of the past few days. At this point, I had accepted the fact that the world was much different than I originally thought. I accepted that there were things I was now able to do, things that I didn’t think were possible, but I had to deal with it. Shaking my head as I sat up, I made the active decision to trust my “psychic” instincts and stop ignoring everything new about myself just because it terrified me.

My body ached as I wiggled out of bed, though it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had earlier. I inched my way to the bathroom and pulled off my clothes, including my makeshift towel bandage.

“What the heck?” I gasped.

The bruises that had been dark purple when I’d gone to sleep were now shades of yellow and green. My gash was completely closed over and my smaller cuts were now almost invisible. It looked as if I’d gotten beaten up a couple weeks ago and not hours. I squeezed my eyes closed.

“Deal with the weird shit, Kyra. Just deal with it so you can keep running from the homicidal maniac,” I said to myself. You’re a killer too, a small voice whispered to me. I ignored it. Acknowledging what I did, even thinking about it wasn’t productive. I needed to get moving and that was the only important thing right now.

Currently I was somewhere in Northern California, close to Oregon’s border. When I’d been driving, I’d felt the urge to head north. Maybe if I got back in the car I would instinctually know where to go. It was worth a shot, not like there were any better options at the moment.

I pulled on some fresh clothing that I’d found in the duffle and pulled on my scuffed-up boots from the night before. At least they were dry and mostly dirt free. When I was dressed, I grabbed my stolen belongings and got into the Ferrari. It was dark already; I’d slept the day away. That was fine, I hoped I would get less attention moving around at night. As I started the engine, Gwen’s phone started ringing. I’d forgotten to trash it before I left Tahoe. I knew I shouldn’t pick it up but I couldn’t resist.

“Kyra? Kyra, listen to me. I know you’re scared but I promise you don’t need to me afraid of me. You were never in any danger from me,” Gwen said quickly.

“What the hell are you?” The words came out as a half whisper when I had been intending to scream them at her.

“That’s not important-”

“The hell it isn’t! I’m tired of your bullshit. You sure never felt like being honest with me so why should I listen to another word you have to say?” I interrupted angrily.

“Kyra, that doesn’t matter right now, what matters is your safety. I am all that you have. Stop running Kyra, come back to me,” she pleaded.

“How could I?” I was screaming into the phone. “You’re a monster. You killed a man like it was nothing. You just crushed him in your hand like he was nothing!”

“I’m not the only one with blood on my hands, Kyra. You and me, we’re the same. I’m the only one who can keep you safe.”

“Screw you, Gwen. I’m nothing like you and I’m not falling for your crap again.”

I tossed the phone out the window and ran over it as I pulled out of the parking lot. To hell with her. I would never willingly kill someone. She’d just gone up to him and strangled him. She could’ve knocked him out or slowed him down or… or…. I was scrambling for justification of my feelings because deep down I was afraid she was right.

I tool some deep breaths and pushed the thoughts away. North. There was something that I needed to find, someone. Whatever it was, I was determined to find it. I went to the little gas station across the street and quickly filled up, anxious to get going. My stomach rumbled. I was starving, it felt like I hadn’t eaten in forever. I stopped at the nearest fast food place with a drive through.

“What can I get for you tonight?” The muffled voice crackled through the speaker.

“One second,” I said. I was starving. I felt like I could eat everything on the menu.

“Take your time.”

“I’ll have… a double cheeseburger meal with a large coke and a large fry. And a large chocolate shake, twenty-piece nugget, two hash browns, and … another large coke.”

She told me my total and I pulled to the window. I handed her the cash and took my food. She gave me a funny look but kind of shrugged and didn’t say anything about my bruised face.

I couldn’t wait to start eating. Before I knew it, I had finished all my food and my first coke. I guess getting beat up, almost dying, and having weird visions really made a girl hungry. I turned on the radio, I couldn’t stand the silence. I flipped through a few stations but settled on some generic pop music.

I drove for hours, not really sure where exactly I was going except for getting the occasional mental image of trees and mountains. That didn’t exactly help but I was happy to drive. I only stopped once to use the restroom and I waited until it was an empty rest stop. I didn’t want the car to get stolen or to be caught alone in the middle of the night.

It was after three in the morning when I started to get a little tired. I had driven through Oregon and just crossed into Washington state. I decided to get off the freeway and stop in a small town to stretch my legs and maybe get a few hours of sleep.

I was driving down a muddy dirt road, going a bit too fast, and not really paying attention. There was another car coming from the opposite direction, but I wasn’t too worried about it, there was enough space for both of us on the road so I kept going. The windows were rolled down and the driver had their left arm resting outside the car. I turned to glance at the driver as he passed and recognized the pair of green eyes even at night on the poorly lit road. I guess I stared too long because I stopped paying attention to the road and didn’t slow down to go through a fairly large puddle. My tires lost their traction and the car started to fishtail. I probably would’ve been okay, but I freaked out and forgot my basic driving skills. I yanked the steering wheel in an attempt to straighten out but instead sent the car skidding off the road and into a tree. My airbag went off and my head slammed into it. My vision was filled with black spots as I clumsily yanked off my seatbelt and stumbled out of the car.

“Oh god, is she okay? What was she doing out here at this time at night?” A man’s voice said.

“I don’t know, but be ready just in case,” another voice said. This one was familiar. “Miss, are you okay?”

A flashlight shined in my face. I held my hand up to shield my eyes. I couldn’t think straight.

“Xavier, you’re blinding her.”

“Oops, sorry.” The flashlight lowered and sure enough it was James standing in front of me. My jaw dropped; I was shocked.

“Hi, I’m James. Are you okay, do you need me to call an ambulance?” James reached out his hand, offering it too me so I could stand up. I shook my head and took his hand hesitantly. As soon as his skin touched mine, it felt like my hand was on fire. We yanked our hands away at the same time. I shook my hand out, trying to rid it of the painful sensation.

“What are you?” I asked.

“Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing,” James said as he quickly pulled a gun from his waistband and aimed it at me.


	7. Coffee With a Witch and an Angel

I threw my hands up in the air and nearly knocked myself over from the force of the action.

“My name’s Kyra and what I am is really tired of getting guns pointed at me.” He didn’t seem amused. “Fine, fine. I have no friggin’ idea what I am. I’m knew to all this stuff and I’ve had a few really stressful days so if you could hurry up and decide whether or not you are planning on shooting me, that would be great.”

“I need more coffee if I’m going to deal with this right now,” James said, lowering his gun but still keeping it in his hand.

“So, you’re not going to kill me?” I asked, slowly lowering my hands.

“I haven’t decided yet,” James said, running his left hand through his messy golden brown hair.

“That’s not exactly reassuring,” I pointed out.

“Well, it’s the best you’re gonna get until we know more about you. Grab your stuff and get in the truck,” James said firmly.

I hesitated, I didn’t want to repeat past mistakes, but the Ferrari wasn’t going anywhere because of my subpar driving skills and I needed to know more about James. I leaned into the car and pulled out the purse and stuffed it into the duffel before heading to the truck. James was already in the driver’s seat. I walked next to Xavier, slowly because I was still dizzy from hitting my head. I really hoped I wasn’t going to develop a concussion or permanent brain damage from all these hits to my head.

Xavier was tall, probably 6 feet, with short dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and a soft face. He didn’t look nearly as harsh and intimidating as James did and he wasn’t quite as tall as James who I estimated was a couple inches past 6 feet. Xavier had this … I didn’t know how to describe it; it was like I could look at him and just know he was a good person. I had this instinctual good feeling about him. James, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I couldn’t tell anything about him or his personality, he was so closed off.

“Don’t worry, James’ bark is worse than his bite. He’s just a bit on edge recently,” Xavier whispered before we climbed into the truck.

James shot him a dirty look and Xavier rolled his eyes. They tossed my bag into the back because there was no room in the cab. I was wedged between the two of them, it wasn’t too close of a fit, but I was definitely uncomfortable being this confined with strangers. It was here that I got a better look at James. He had slightly curly, golden brown hair that looked like it needed a trim. His jaw was covered in scruff, not quite a beard but too long to be stubble. He had a few scars on his face and he clenched his jaw as he drove. I realized I’d probably been staring too long and quickly looked away, focusing on the road. James drove us to a little diner with big windows and a flashing neon 24-hour sign.

The walls, seats, and tables were all white with red trim. It was cute and clean but practically empty except for the waitress. It smelled like apple pie and fresh coffee.

“Hey Pam,” James said to the waitress as we sat in the curved corner booth. She was older, maybe late forties or early fifties with blue eyes and pale blonde hair tucked under a white cap that matched her white apron. “Three coffees please.”

I sat on the inside of the curved booth between James and Xavier.

“You look pretty beat up, what happened to you,” Xavier asked.

“It’s a long story,” I said as the coffee arrived.

“Need anything else, Jamie?” The waitress asked.

“No thanks,” James smiled up at her, handing her a fifty-dollar bill. “Keep the change and keep an eye out if you don’t mind,” he whispered to her.

She nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Once she left, he turned to me, arms folded, leaning on the table.

“Start talking,” he ordered.

“I was attacked by some men who thought I was a witch,” I said quietly, not making eye contact.

“Witch hunters did this to you?” Xavier confirmed.

“Yes.”

“When?” James interjected. I paused, if I told them the truth, how would they react. They hadn’t tried to kill me yet, that was a good sign.

“Last night,” I answered.

Xavier looked from my face to James’.

“She’s telling the truth as far as I can tell,” James told him, answering his silent question.

“How do you know?” I questioned, surprised.

“That’s none of your business,” James snapped.

“Ignore him, he’s just grumpy that he only has subpar magic. It’s one of his talents as a witch,” Xavier answered, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

“I uh, okay then,” I said.

“Why did they think you were a witch?” James asked, not letting himself get distracted from the purpose of their interrogation.

“They thought I was with this girl they captured, they thought I was in her coven.”

“What happened to the girl?” Xavier asked, concerned.

“She got away as far as I could tell.”

“How did you get away?” James asked, his green eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Witch hunters aren’t easy to run from without a coven.”

“I um….” Images flashed behind my eyes of the dead bodies, Gwen’s eyes, the color of blood. “They were distracted, and I ran away.”

“By what?” James asked, his suspicions increasing.

“Go ahead and start front the beginning, sweetie,” Xavier suggested kindly. He seemed to be on my side at least.

“Okay, okay.” I sipped my coffee. “So as far as I know, a year ago I was struck by lightning and ended up in a coma that I didn’t get out of until a few days ago. When I woke up I was in the morgue and I freaked out and went to my parents’ house where my own mother didn’t even recognize me. She called the police. So, I ran away and ended up at this computer café I used to go to and this article said I was dead. Then this chick with crazy red hair showed up acting like she knew everything about me and that she could make all my problems go away so I don’t know why but I went with her and ended up in Tahoe because I had these weird visions or dreams or whatever about this girl and these witch hunters I guess and she told me if we went there it would prove I was psychic. I ended up being captured by the guys and they were gonna kill me if the girl didn’t tell them where her coven was, and she wasn’t talking. So, they were about to shoot me and I … I … shoved the guy pointing the gun at me and Gwen- the red-haired chick- comes out of nowhere and just grabs one of the guys by the throat and lifts him like two whole feet in the air and so I run over to the girl and untie her and she takes off and I’m freaking out looking at Gwen just throttle the crap out of the guy. And she full on crushes his throat and her eyes were blood red, like bright - practically glowing blood red so I ran away and stole her car and that’s how I ended up here.”

It all came out so fast that I had to catch myself from letting slip that I’d killed someone and that I had visions of James. I didn’t want them to know about those details. I took a deep breath, I’d probably had too much caffeine, I was so jittery.

“You said her name was Gwen? Do you know if that was short for anything? Guinevere, maybe?” James asked.

“I don’t know, she only ever said Gwen,” I answered honestly.

“But she had red hair and red eyes?” Xavier clarified.

“Yeah, do you know her?” I asked.

“No, but she sounds familiar,” He replied. Xavier looked to James who gave the slightest of nods.

“You were telling the truth. You sound psychic to me, but we’ll have to take you to someone to be sure,” Xavier said, smiling at me. “You know I’m a witch and James here is human adjacent.” James glared at him. “Sorry, sorry. He doesn’t like to share personal information. You met up with some witch hunters and they are pretty awful and pretty racist too. They think witches are pure evil and they kill anyone they suspect of using magic which often includes a lot of clueless humans. James and a lot of other hunters recognize that witches are people too. Some of us are bad but most of us are harmless. So those hunters choose to work with us rather than against us.”

“If you aren’t hunting witches then what are you hunting?” I asked.

“Worse things than witches,” James answered gruffly. He still didn’t trust me. That was fine by me, I didn’t trust home yet either, even if he showed up in the majority of my dreams.

“James, can I talk to you for a second?” Xavier asked, sliding out of the booth.

“Don’t go anywhere,” James ordered as he followed suit.

They walked to the other end of the diner and started talking with their backs to me. Lucky for me, sound carried.

“I’m not convinced about her yet. I haven’t heard of a witch jumpstarting their magic like that before,” James said.

“Maybe not the lightning and coma specifically, but near-death experiences are a common way for adult witches to learn about what they are. I mean look at her, she’s all beat up, all alone, and she needs our help. You know I can’t turn her away,” Xavier pleaded.

“I know, I know. I just want us to be careful,” James said, starting to cave. “Increased healing times though? Come on, that’s something you need practice or a coven to do, it’s not something you do a couple days into discovering magic. You know that, X.”

“We’ll keep an eye on her. Your ‘magic hands’ didn’t pick up anything unusual, did they,” Xavier asked.

“I told you not to call it that,” James said, trying not to smile. “But no, nothing more than that she wasn’t human.”

“Then I’m taking her in. Benefit of the doubt and all that,” Xavier decided.

“Okay, fine. Let’s get out of here and take her with us. I’m about to drop dead on my feet either way, I need to sleep,” James agreed. They turned around and came back to the table.

“We’ve got a safe house set up a little ways from here. You are welcome to come with us until we can find you a coven and get you taken care of,” Xavier offered.

I looked at them apprehensively. Stranger danger was a pretty important lesson learned in childhood; one I should have followed with Gwen. I didn’t really have any other options, but I wasn’t sold on the idea.

“We’ll keep you safe, I promise,” James said looking me in the eyes. I believed him. Not in the same way I had believed Gwen where I felt like I was being forced into it, but in an honest to god instinctual trust sort of way.

“Okay,” I said. “But I’m free to leave at any time?”

“Yes, but witches are safer in groups so I wouldn’t recommend it,” Xavier warned gently. “Most witches on their own don’t survive witch hunters.”

“I didn’t catch your last name,” James said.

“Day, my name is Kyra Day,” I answered.

“It’s nice to meet you Kyra Day. I’m Xavier Jackson and this is James B-“

James elbowed him in the ribs, cutting him off. “Angel, James Angel.”

I knew he was lying; it was really obvious. That was probably what my dream had hinted about. Either way, it wasn’t really any of my business and I hopefully wouldn’t be staying for long.

“Nice to meet you too, Xavier Jackson and James… Angel.”

Xavier drove on the way to the safe house with me still in the middle and James in the passenger seat. I tried to stay awake and pay attention to where we were going but I was too tired. After a few minutes, I dozed off.

\-----

The sky was dark, lit up only by the occasional glimpse of stars through the dense clouds or flash of distant lightning. It wasn’t raining but there was a thick, almost palpable tension in the air, like something was coming. We were driving down the road, all three of us in the truck, listening to Ariana Grande on Xavier’s phone. James was covering his ears as Xavier and I sang obnoxiously loud, when we hit something on the road and the front tires blew out. The dream blurred and refocused on James. He was kneeling on the ground, hands on his head, blood dripping down his forehead. A gun was pressed to his temple as he glared at the blurred face of his assailant. You could stop this, a voice whispered to me. You could save him. The assailant pulled the trigger and the sound of the gunshot woke me up.

\-----

“James!” I screamed as I bolted upright, nearly hitting Xavier’s forehead with my own.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. You’re safe. You were asleep,” Xavier said as he patted my shoulder. The sky was brightening. It was almost sunrise. “James already went inside, I tried to wake you but you were locked into that vision- was it?- pretty tight. You wouldn’t wake up so I just hung out here to keep an eye on you.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you up,” I apologized quietly, trying to slow my breathing.

“It’s not a problem, I’m not very tired yet. I am, however, curious as to why you were having nightmarish visions about James?” Xavier asked seriously.


	8. What's a Daemon?

“What?” I stuttered. “I was just having a bad dream.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Kyra. I don’t want to pry but if you know things that affects James, I can’t let that go,” He said sternly. The dream was already fading as I scrambled for a reasonable explanation. I sighed and decided to tell the truth.

“I’ve had dreams about James for a while now. It’s mostly just his face or his eyes but sometimes I’ll see something, it’s always out of context, but I’ll see things or hear things. I have trouble keeping it all straight. Half the time I don’t remember much of it when I wake up,” I explained honestly.

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Xavier asked.

“Tell you and Mr. Trigger Happy that I had dreams about him and his pretty green eyes and that probably the whole reason I’m even in Washington is because I was looking for him? I don’t think that would have gone over so well.”

“That’s fair. His eyes are really pretty, aren’t they,” he smiled. “You hiding anything else?”

“Nothing that involves you guys,” I told the truth.

“Fine, but if you ‘see’ anything useful, you should tell us,” he said.

“I’ll let you know if anything starts happening, I promise.”

“Let’s get inside, you look like you need some sleep,” Xavier said as he exited the truck.

“Gee, thanks,” I teased as I grabbed my duffel. Their safe house was larger than I expected. It was two stories with maybe 5 or 6 bedrooms and a brown, brick exterior.

“Sometimes there are whole covens in here or bigger groups of hunters. Everyone keeps it stocked so anyone who needs it can use it,” Xavier said as he showed me to my room on the second floor. It has a connected bathroom and a large bed. He opened up the closet and handed me a pillow and some fresh white sheets.

“Where’s your coven, Xavier?” I asked as he helped me make the bed.

He had a pained look on his face when he finally answered. “Gone.”

“I’m sorry, I-“

“It’s alright. Goodnight, Kyra,” he said, leaving and shutting the door behind him.

“That’s perfect,” I muttered to myself. I’d upset the first person who might actually be on my side. I kicked off my shoes and dropped onto the bed, not even bothering to change out of my clothes and turned off the lamp. I slept peacefully with only a few nightmares interrupting an overall peaceful rest. Sunlight slipping through the blinds covering the window woke me up around mid-morning. My muscles felt stiff as I opened the door and walked downstairs.

“About time,” James said teasingly.

“I’ve only been asleep for a few hours,” I said.

“Nope, you’ve been asleep since yesterday morning,” Xavier said. He was wearing an apron and pulling out ingredients from the cupboards.

“I guess I was tired,” I said, shrugging.

“Nice hair,” James snickered. I rolled my eyes at him, tempted to stick out my tongue.

“Your bathroom should be fully stocked, and your closet probably has clothes in your size if you wanted to go freshen up before breakfast,” Xavier said.

“Thanks,” I said and went back up the stairs.

The closet in my room was stocked pretty well with women’s clothing. I was able to find jeans in my size along with a snug but comfortable lavender plaid shirt and a form fitting, white, scoop neck tank to go underneath. I set the clothes down on the bathroom counter and locked the door behind me. The drawers underneath the sink were stocked with a bunch of travel sized shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and other toiletries. I stripped, grabbed some of them, and hopped into the shower. My bruises were, miraculously, practically gone, only slight discoloration from where they used to be remained. The gash on my ribs had left a faint scar but hopefully my magic healing would cover that up. I showered quickly and towel dried my hair when I was done. After getting dressed I twisted my thick, golden brown hair into a tight bun on top of my head. I didn’t look half bad I decided as I looked in the mirror. I put the same heeled boots back on and hopped down the stairs, lured to the kitchen by the smell of pancakes. I sat down across from James at the large dining table.

“Just in time!” Xavier said as he put a plate of pancakes in front of both James and I before sitting down with a plate for himself.

“Thanks,” I said.

“So, Kyra, you went to California State University Monterey Bay, right?” James asked.

“Yeah, how’d you know that?” I said.

“Your Instagram,” he said showing me his phone which had a picture of me on graduation day at the university. “Then you went to UC Davis Veterinary School for a year before your accident?”

“Yup, if you’re getting at something you can just ask me,” I told him in between bites of pancakes.

“Are your parents witches?”

“Nope.”

“Any extended family or relation to any historical figures who might be witches?”

“Not as far as I know but I’m not very close with my extended family.”

“Then why did Guinevere want you? If you don’t have any traceable ties to powerful witches, why would she come to you?” James asked, reaching his point.

“I don’t know. She said she could tell I was different and that she’d been watching me since high school, but she didn’t make much sense and I’m pretty sure most of what she said was bullshit anyway,” I answered.

“Did she tell you what she was?” James continued.

“No, she really didn’t tell me much of anything.”

“She’s a daemon, Kyra,” He said.

“A demon? Like possession and hell and stuff?” I asked, confused.

“No, D-A-E-M-O-N, it’s pronounced the same way, but it means something very different. Daemons are essentially almost gods, or they act like it at least. Most supernatural creatures and hunters who know what’s good for them stay out of their way,” James explained.

“How do you know that’s what she is? She didn’t seem like a god to me,” I said.

“Hunters and witches keep notes of their encounters with the supernatural at our safe houses and I knew she sounded familiar from your description, so I looked her up. I’m surprised she would be in her true form around you, she’s notorious for being a shapeshifter and for using mind control. My best guess is that she wanted you for your psychic abilities and used her powers to brain wash your family so she could isolate you.”

“What? Why? Why would she do that? That’s one big leap for how little information you actually have,” I said, not understanding why I was getting so upset. I tried to hold back tears, unsuccessfully, as I remembered the look on my mother’s face when she hadn’t recognized me.

“Awkward,” Xavier whispered.

“Hey, don’t cry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. You’re right, it’s just a theory. But daemons have been known to collect psychics in the past,” James apologized, surprising me. I wiped tears of my cheeks and ate some of my food.

“I haven’t heard of daemons collecting psychics since the dark ages, back when psychics really had some juice. Now their magic is practically useless,” Xavier said, trying to make me feel better.

“It’s okay, you didn’t upset me, not really. I’m just still getting used to all this,” I said gesturing with my hand. “I’m a little sensitive I guess.”

“I thought daemons have been mostly underground for the past decade since…” Xavier trailed off.

“Since what?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

“Since a hunter theoretically got close to killing one of them. The daemon killed him before the hunter could finish the job,” James said quickly. He looked… sad, almost.

“How do you kill a daemon?” I asked, curious.

“You don’t,” James said harshly. “You run away from them as fast as you can. Anyone who is even near them end up dead. You were lucky that you survived.” James got up and practically stomped out up to his room, taking his food with him.

“Did I say something?” I asked, looking at Xavier.

“No, his dad was the hunter who died trying to kill a daemon so it’s a touchy subject. You can’t tell anyone about it though, it’s a secret. James could be in a lot of trouble if the daemons found out who he was. You can’t tell anyone,” Xavier said.

“I promise, who would I tell anyway?” I said. “So, is there really no way to kill a daemon?”

“There’s always been rumors. Some say they can kill each other; others say if you rip out their heart and destroy it that’ll kill them. There’s another rumor that the most powerful fae are able to do it but the fae would never try,” Xavier explained.

“Wait, the fae as in faeries? Those are real?”

“Yup, they live in their own little part of the world. It’s sort of like another dimension folded into ours so we share this planet with them without really being together. James can explain it better than I can but you probably shouldn’t ask him about it,” Xavier said.

We sat for a few minutes, quietly eating our food.

“So,” I said in an attempt to break the awkward silence. “What sort of magic do you have?”

“Technically I’m slightly telepathic which means I can read your intentions when you say or do things. It’s not super useful, more of like a strong vibe radar thing. I’m not a full telepath because I can’t read your thoughts,” Xavier explained as he got up and grabbed the pitcher of orange juice from the counter. “Want some?”

“Yes, thanks,” I said while he poured us each a glass. “Is telepathy a common witch power?”

“Not really. Most witches have their own little quirks- things that they specialize in. We can’t all do the same stuff,” he said.

“Okay…. What about magic wands and crystal balls and wizard staffs? Do you guys have those? And do you have to do spells, or can you just do magic?”

“It depends. A lot of magic you have to use spells and you have to do them very carefully or you can seriously mess shit up but there are some things that you can just do depending on your natural skills. Like you and your visions and me and my telepathy. Some witches use wands or other magic conduits to focus their power, so they don’t burn themselves out. But that is usually only for the more powerful witches doing the most difficult magic,” Xavier answered.

“What about James? When he touched my hand, it felt like it was burning. You said he was ‘human-adjacent’, what does that mean?” I asked, happy that he was answering all my questions.

“That is none of your business,” James interrupted as he dropped my duffel along with his and Xavier’s bags. “We should get going. We’ve been here long enough. Let’s get you tested and get you to a new coven.”

I shoved the last of my food in my mouth and downed my orange juice. “Okay, let’s go.”

James cleaned up the kitchen and then we threw the duffels into the back and piled into the old green truck. After a few minutes of James driving in silence, Xavier pulled out his phone and a small speaker.

“Come on X, can we drive without music for a little bit longer?” James complained.

“I can’t stand the awkward silence so you can choose between listening to Taylor Swift or you can start a conversation,” Xavier said.

“Fine, fine. Kyra, what’s your favorite color?” James asked, rolling his eyes.

“Green,” I answered immediately, remembering the color of his eyes. Xavier smirked but James didn’t seem to notice.

“Yep, green is a good color, but I really like blue. What about you, X?” James continued with a small smirk on his face.

“Purple,” Xavier said quickly. “Kyra, did you have a boyfriend pre coma?”

“She had a girlfriend,” James answered for me.

“I didn’t realize you changed your name to Kyra,” Xavier teased James. “I apologize for the heteronormative assumptions; I should know better.”

“It didn’t bother me,” I shrugged. “I actually did have a boyfriend before my coma, but it wasn’t very serious. We never took photos together or anything so Mr. Stalker over here didn’t see him on my social media.”

“Proof James does not know everything? How exciting!” Xavier exclaimed.

“Hardy har har. I only looked for a couple minutes anyway,” James defended himself.

“What about you guys, do you have … partners?” I asked.

“Long term relationships don’t really work for hunters,” James said.

“What he means is he hasn’t found someone brave enough to deal with him yet,” Xavier teased. “I, on the other hand, refuse to be held down by anyone. I gotta live my life, you know?”

I grinned, it felt good to just have regular conversations with people. With Gwen it had felt all doom and gloom. Everything was secretive and we only ever talked about my visions. Talking with them made me feel more like a human and less like some sort of monster.

“How long have you guys known each other?” I asked.

“Since we were kids. I was over at his family’s place more than I was at my own home,” James admitted.

“We were inseparable and ended up being hunting partners right out of high school,” Xavier added.

“What do you guys hunt?” I asked.

“Mostly vampires and werewolves. Occasionally we run into something like a zombie, but we tend to focus on those first two,” James said.

“Those exist?!” I gasped.

“Yup,” James said popping the ‘p’ at the end.

“How do people not notice all this stuff?” I asked.

“Humans like to pretend that they know everything and stay safe in their comfort zones. Anything that threatens their perception of reality they either try to destroy, like with the Salem Witch Trials, or they just ignore it all which seems to be the modern method of dealing with real world problems,” Xavier explained.

We talked for another hour before picking up some food and stretching our legs. Dinner didn’t last long, and we were back on the road as the sun set. Xavier was driving this time and he turned on Taylor Swift. It was completely dark when Ariana Grande came on and I got a wave of déjà vu.

“Déjà vu,” I muttered but I couldn’t remember why it was so familiar.

“What was that?” Xavier asked. I was about to reply but we hit something on the poorly lit road and our front tires blew out, sending us to a screeching stop.

“James, get out your gun!” I ordered, grabbing his left arm as I remembered parts of my vision.

“What? Why?” James asked.

“Something bad is about to happen! Just do it!” I yelled. He listened and pulled out his gun, but he wasn’t fast enough. James’ passenger window was shattered by the butt of a shotgun, quickly followed by Xavier’s window being shattered as well.

“Don’t move!” A familiar male voice demanded.

I looked toward the voice and my heart sank to my stomach as I recognized him. It was the third hunter from before, the father of the hunter I had killed.

“Get out of the car you murderous bitch!” He yelled, practically screeching.


	9. Lightning Strikes and Bullets Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: violence, language, blood, death

“I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding,” James said as he exited the truck slowly, hands in the air.

“Shut up! Put the gun on the ground and kick it over!” The father yelled. James slowly bent down and placed his gun on the ground before gently kicking it in the hunter’s direction. The father picked it up and kept it pointed at us.

This wasn’t good. There were four very angry looking hunters with guns and torches. I was useless, James was gunless, and I had no idea if Xavier could do anything to stop them. Xavier and I slid out of the truck and walked over to James with our hands in the air. As they led us deeper into the woods, I looked around and hoped someone would drive by and see us. The road was empty except for our truck and there was no one in sight. Even if someone had driven past and seen the truck still halfway onto the road, we were now far enough into the forest to be hidden from the road. The new hunters that I didn’t recognize placed the torches they had been carrying into the ground, lighting the area around us.

“On your knees! Gag those two!” The father ordered, pointing to James and Xavier. I knelt down on the rough, patchy grass. James and Xavier quickly followed after me, giving each other a meaningful look. A hunter walked towards Xavier with a bandana in his hand, presumably to keep Xavier from speaking. James nodded almost imperceptibly, and Xavier jumped to his feet.

“Motus ignis!” Xavier yelled, waving his hand from the fire towards the hunters. Orange flames flew from the torches towards two of the hunters, catching their jackets on fire. Simultaneously, James leapt towards the father to grab his gun. The hunter was seemingly prepared for the attack, deflecting it by side-stepping James and aiming the gun directly at him . Xavier opened his mouth to speak again, looking towards James, but was knocked out by the hunter with the gag who had smashed his gun into Xavier’s head. Xavier crumpled to the ground. The men who had caught on fire were rolling on the ground, the flames extinguished. They stood up and brushed the dirt of their clothing. Walking over, they seemed mostly untouched except for the scorch marks on their clothing and red blotches on their faces. Apparently getting lit on fire wasn’t enough to scare them.

“You boys okay?” The father asked while keeping his eyes on James. Hunters number 3 and 4 nodded. The situation was getting worse by the minute. Now that our witch was unconscious, our odds of getting out of this alive were looking worse and worse. I started to wish Gwen was here but stopped myself.

“This is what’s gonna happen,” the father said. “You’re gonna admit what you did to my sons and then I’m gonna make you watch as I kill your friends. Once they’re good and dead, I’m gonna set you on fire and watch you burn till you’re ash.”

“She didn’t murder your sons, a daemon did,” James said, trying to help shift the blame. He seemed to have pieced together the situation from what I had told him before about my encounter with the witch hunters. The hunters seemed to have decided he wasn’t worth gagging anymore.

“Huh, is that what she told you? ‘Cause I’m mighty sure I saw her throw one of my sons a good ten feet in the air before he hit me and knocked me out,” the man said. “I woke up and he was dead along with my other boy.”

James looked at me, he was angry. “You left that part out,” James hissed at me.

The adrenaline and fear were overwhelming. Tears started to fill my eyes and thunder rumbled in the distance.

“Witches and woman are liars by nature,” the father stated.

“It was an accident!” I burst out, unable to keep silent especially with James staring at me like I was a monster. “It was self-defense, he was going to kill me, so I just shoved him to get away and he … he…. I guess I pushed too hard, but I didn’t mean to!” The father slapped me across the face with James’ handgun. James leaned forward, about to get up, but hunter number 2 pressed his shotgun to the back of James’ head.

“What about my other son?! His throat was crushed, that wasn’t an accident. That was murder!”

“That wasn’t me, I didn’t touch him, I swear! That was Gwen, the daemon!” He slapped me again and black spots filled my vision. The thunder grew louder as the storm approached. I keeled over, feeling sick to my stomach. I wasn’t sure if it was the anxiety or the head trauma, but I felt awful. The tears I had been trying to hold back started to spill onto my cheeks, leaving hot tracks in their wake.

The man was silent for a minute. He turned around, his back to us while the other three hunters watched us carefully. The father sighed and turned back around.

“I’m gonna kill your friends now,” he said, gesturing with James’ gun.

“Please, no. They had nothing to do with any of this. They don’t even know me! Please let them go!” I pleaded. He hit me for a third time. Flashes of lightning lit up the sky accompanied by deafeningly loud thunder. The other hunters looked up, eyeing the storm clouds apprehensively. James was watching me with a look less of anger and more of curiosity.

“Why would I let them go when you will suffer so much more as you watch while I kill them?” He smirked at me with cold eyes. Begging wasn’t going to do anything. The little girl’s pleading hadn’t done anything in Tahoe, and neither would mine. These men only saw us as monsters. Monsters didn’t deserve mercy.

The father moved closer to James, pressing the gun to his forehead while keeping his eyes on me. The hunter behind James lowered his gun and stepped out of the way. James glared up at the hunter, not breaking eye contact. Time seemed to slow as I remembered my vision. James was about to die, and it was going to be my fault. How could this happen? Why would I have visions if I couldn’t do anything to change them? I couldn’t let James die, even if only to figure out why he appeared so often in my visions. A familiar cold spread from my chest throughout the rest of my body. I focused on the hunters. I wanted them gone, I wanted them to run away and leave us alone. I wanted to be free of this nightmarish situation. I wanted the guilt and fear in my chest to dissipate. The hairs on my arms stood on end, my skin covered in goosebumps, and I looked up. Lightning crackled across the night sky and as it did, I instinctually reached for it, both physically and mentally, throwing it down towards the hunters. Brilliantly blue bolts of electricity struck the ground between the hunters and the three of us sending them and James flying. The father was in the ground, now separated from James. The other three hunters scrambled to their feet and ran away as lightning continued to strike. A smell like burning plastic permeated the air and all I could hear was ringing after the loud crash of electricity.

A warmth trickled down my nose and I touched my fingers to it. They came away red. I felt lightheaded.

The father stood up and stepped towards Xavier who he was now closer to even though there was still some distance between them. The lightning slowly came to a stop and he was not intimidated by me like the other hunters had been.

“I’m not letting you get away! I’m taking your coven away like you took my family away!” He yelled and pointed the gun at the still unconscious Xavier. In that moment, it didn’t matter to me that I had only known Xavier for a couple of days, and it didn’t matter that he wasn’t my coven. All I knew was I didn’t want him dead because of me. I couldn’t live with the weight of his death too. I dived to my left to throw myself over him as the gun went off. I felt an sharp pressure in my right shoulder followed by a painful burning. James tackled the hunter and wrestled the gun from him. Without hesitation, James shot the hunter twice in the head.

I rolled off of Xavier who had finally started to wake up. Pressing my left hand to the bullet hole, I tried to stand up but was overcome by a wave of vertigo and sat back down. James sprinted to Xavier’s side and hugged him.

“Thank god you’re okay!” James said.

“I hate to be that person, but I think I might need some help,” I said in between shaky breaths.

“Shit, Kyra! I thought he missed,” James said surprising me with the concern present in his voice as he lightly touched my shoulder.

“Ow!” I said pointedly.

“Sorry,” he muttered, looking away.

“Let’s get her in the truck,” Xavier said, standing up. “I’m not strong enough to fix her yet and I don’t know if her own healing is going to do any good with a gunshot wound.”

“The truck isn’t going to get far enough to help her,” James said.

“I think I can keep the tires going long enough to get to Maggie’s house,” Xavier suggested. James stood up and leaned towards him.

“Is that really a good idea in your condition? I don’t want you risking your life for her’s,” James whispered.

“I’ve been hit worse than this before and - correct me if I’m wrong – didn’t she just take that bullet for me?” Xavier argued quietly. My shoulder throbbed dully, and another wave of nausea hit me.

“Kyra is the only reason that gun was pointed at you in the first place,” James hissed.

“I don’t know if you guys have realized this yet, but you really suck at whispering,” I said, trying to distract myself from the increasing discomfort. They ignored me.

“We’re helping her,” Xavier decided. “Either way, we can’t get anywhere unless I fix those tires and I am not waiting for the other hunters to come back and finish us off. Our biggest problem is that.” Xavier pointed at the dead hunter’s body.

“We burn it. They already brought all the materials we need for a fire,” James said. He grabbed a torch and the little can of gasoline that I hadn’t noticed before. Then he dumped the fluid on the hunter’s body and dropped the torch on him. I turned away but I couldn’t unsee it and I definitely couldn’t stop the acrid smell of burning flesh from filling my nose. That made my nausea much worse and I swallowed back a wave of bile.

“Come on,” James said, tucking an arm underneath my left shoulder and helping me up. I tried to walk but my legs collapsed underneath me. James sighed and scooped up my legs, so he was now carrying me. I winced at the pain of being moved. He placed me into the truck and buckled the seatbelt before digging through the glove box and grabbing some bandages. James lifted my left hand and tucked the bandages underneath it to help stop the bleeding.

“Thanks,” I muttered, my head flopping back to rest against the seat. I wasn’t strong enough to keep it upright.

“Don’t worry about,” James said somewhat grumpily.

“Motus caeli,” Xavier said, crouching in front of the truck. The vehicle leveled out as the front tires filled with air. He reached behind them and dragged the row of spikes that had popped our tires out from underneath the car before tossing them into the trunk.

James hopped into the driver’s seat and Xavier into the passenger’s seat. We sped off down the road at what was probably an unsafe speed with the hunter’s burning body in the rear-view mirror. I started to nod off because of the combination of blood loss and over exertion. My head slipped over on to James.

“Hey-hey-hey,” James said quickly, grabbing my left shoulder. “Don’t fall asleep!”

“I’m tired,” I muttered as I fought to keep my eyes open.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. I’m not letting you off the hook until I get some answers so you can’t fall asleep!” He ordered.

“Right back at you, green eyes. But sometimes they’re blue, why is that?” I asked.

“She’s delirious,” Xavier said. “I don’t know if she’s gonna make it to Maggie’s. Should we take her to a hospital?”

“No!” James and I said at the same time.

“Supes don’t go to hospitals,” James reminded Xavier.

“Yeah and the last time I was in one it was because of the coma and I am not reliving that,” I said, my eyes mostly closed as I forced the words out of my mouth.

“You’re right,” Xavier said, ignoring me. “They would want her name and she’s officially dead. Then they would report the gunshot wound to the police and what if she starts magically healing? It would be a mess.” I started to lean on James shoulder again, unable to stay upright.

“Keep her talking, X,” James ordered.

“Kyra, tell me how you stopped the hunters,” Xavier said.

“The lightning was there, and I grabbed it. Wasn’t that hard,” I mumbled.

“How?” James asked incredulously. “That was amazing but impossible. How did you do it?”

“I don’t know, I just did it. Mm cold.”

“You did some ridiculously powerful magic on… instinct?” Xavier clarified. “I’m turning on the heat, just stay focused on the sound of our voices.”

“Mmhm,” I answered.

“You must be one hell of a witch,” James said.

“Mm sorry,” I whispered.

“About what?” James asked.

“The hunter, killing him, not telling you. Fuck, ow. Nd mm bleeding all over your truck.” I laughed softly then winced.

“It wouldn’t be the first time someone bled in this truck,” James said smiling.

“Did they live?” I asked. Before he could respond I blacked out.


	10. Everything is Purple

Katherine was sitting at the green park bench reading the textbook for our English class. Her long, dark brown hair was tucked behind her left ear and she was wearing a pair of small, gold, heart earrings. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her fitted black long sleeve shirt that had a deep v neck. Damn, why did girls have to be so intimidating to talk to? I was sitting at the park bench across from her, trying to work up the courage to go over and say hello. Katherine was in my introductory writing course, something I was terrible at, and I had been meaning to introduce myself all week.

“Come on Kyra, you’re an adult now and adults are fully capable of introducing themselves to pretty girls,” I muttered to myself. Slipping my backpack over my shoulders, I stood up and nervously walked over to her.

“Hi,” I said too quietly. I cleared my throat and spoke up. “Hi, I’m Kyra. I’m in your English class.”

Katherine looked up from her book and smiled. “Hi, Kyra. I was wondering when you were going to come over.” She grinned as I blushed. Tucking my short, golden-brown hair behind my ears, I continued.

“Sorry, I was um. I was wondering if you um. I mean if you uh,” I stammered.

“Do you want to grab a coffee with me?” Katherine asked.

“Yes, definitely,” I answered quickly, glad she had asked.

“Okay then.” She smiled and shoved her book into her brown bag and stood up, linking her arm in mine. I was surprised at her forwardness, but I wasn’t complaining.

“I’m buying,” She stated. “No arguing.”

“I’ll buy next time then. I mean, if there is a next time. I’m not trying to assume or anything,” I tripped over my own words again.

“You can buy next time,” Katherine agreed as her eyes sparkled. She seemed amused by my awkwardness. I was completely –

\----

Sharp, searing pains pulled me from my memory. I tried to jerk away from whatever was hurting me, but strong hands held me down. The pain continued as something dug into my shoulder. I bit my lip to keep from screaming, drawing blood.

“Stay still, Kyra!” James ordered. I tried to open my eyes, but everything was so bright that I squeezed them closed again.

“It’s almost out!” An older woman’s voice said. After an agonizing yank, the feeling stopped and was replaced by a less painful pressure on my shoulder. A cup was placed to my lips and I swallowed the cool, slightly sweet liquid.

“Go back to sleep. It’ll be over before you wake up again,” the unfamiliar voice instructed.

\----

“You don’t put anything in your coffee!” I asked. “No sweeteners or cream or anything at all?”

“I like to drink coffee not sugary milk with a tiny bit of coffee flavoring,” Katherine teased.

“But sugar is the best part!” I insisted. “It’s what makes coffee worth drinking!” I took a sip of my venti java chip Frappuccino with three pumps of raspberry syrup and whipped cream.

“Okay and when you crash from your sugar high in a couple of hours will you still think your drink is superior to mine?” She asked, grinning. She had the prettiest smile I’d ever seen.

“100%,” I said.

Katherine rolled her dark brown eyes and leaned back into her chair.

“What’s your major?” She asked me.

“Biochem, what about you?” my hands fiddled with the sleeves of my light green jacket as I spoke.

“English. Biochemistry? Really, isn’t that supposed to be a super hard program to get into?”

“Yeah, it is kind of tough,” I shrugged.

“You must be brilliant,” Katherine said with a sparkling smile.

“I’m smart enough, I suppose,” I said, trying to be modest.

“Don’t sell yourself short, darling. Own your strengths.”

\-----

I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar place. The flowery scent of lavender settled over me, helping to calm my constant state of anxiety. I was getting used to that at this point. Large springs of lavender hung in the window over curtains of a similar shade to my left, also matching the comforter I was tucked under. I was warm, uncomfortably so. I pushed the comforter off of me and struggled to sit up because I was still dizzy. Black spots danced across my vision and I reached out to steady myself.

“Careful there,” James warned. I hadn’t noticed him sitting in a purple armchair to my right. “You don’t want to pull your stitches. That was a pretty nasty gunshot wound.”

“What happened?” I asked, my voice cracking. My mind was still fuzzy, probably from whatever that woman had given me. At least the ache in my shoulder and the nausea had lessened while I was sleeping.

“You passed out on the way here. We were worried that you were dead, we barely got you to Maggie in time. She gave you some herbs that she said would revitalize you. They worked a little too well and you woke up as she was pulling the bullet out. Then she gave you something to help you sleep and finished stitching up your shoulder,” He explained.

“She gave me magic potions?” I clarified, amused by the thought. I felt a small grin appear on my lips.

“Yeah, pretty much.” James gave me a small half smile. “How are you feeling?” He asked, seriously. I took a good look at him, realizing how tired he appeared. His green flannel shirt was wrinkled, and a couple buttons were open revealing a black undershirt. Dark circles framed his eyes and his hair was in complete disarray.

I rolled my right shoulder gently. “I’m a little sore and a little dizzy but I’m honestly fine, all things considered,” I answered truthfully.

James nodded and stood up. “I’m going to go let Maggie know you’re up. She’ll probably want to check on your shoulder.”

“Okay,” I acknowledged. Soon after he left, an African American woman wearing a magenta skirt, a loose green top with a matching shawl, and a lavender headband opened the door. Was every fabric in this house some shade of purple?

“That boy barely left this room the whole time you were sleeping. He insisted he needed to be by you to make sure you were okay. I think something was eating at him, he had this guilty look on his face,” She said shaking her head. “Xavier, on the other hand. He was sleeping and out barhopping the whole time.” I smiled, unsure of what to say.

“Where are my manners? I’m Maggie, the head of the local coven,” She said, introducing herself.

“It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for helping me,” I said. “I’m Kyra.”

“Nice to meet you too. I hear you’re new to the supernatural way of life,” Maggie said, sitting down at the foot of the bed.

“Yeah. I only got into all this a few days ago,” I said. “How long was I asleep?”

“Two days, it’s June 27th, 2019,” Maggie said.

“I sure do a lot of sleeping recently,” I muttered to myself.

“You needed it,” She said. “Now, let’s check on those bandages. James tells me you’re a quick healer. Maybe if you’re lucky you won’t scar too badly,” She said, smiling kindly.

Maggie reached over and gently peeled the bandage off. Her eyebrows furrowed.

“Hmm,” she said.

“How bad is it?” I asked, afraid to look for myself.

“It’s damn near healed,” Maggie exclaimed. “In fact, I think I can probably take the stitches out today and you’d be fine with nothing more than a big band aid.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” I had to ask because she didn’t seem very happy about it.

“Yes, of course. It’s a good thing,” She answered after a moment. “I’ve got some old clothes from one of my granddaughters in the bathroom closet for you to change into. Go ahead and take a shower but try to keep that shoulder dry just in case. I’ll take your stitches out when you’re done.”

“Sounds good,” I said after realizing I was only in an oversized white T-shirt and some sweatpants. Maggie got up to leave.

“Maggie?”

She turned her head back to look at me. “Hmm?”

“Thank you again,” I said.

“You’re welcome, honey,” She smiled, closing the door behind her.

I stepped out of bed carefully, steadying myself against the frame. My dizziness was subsiding, but I was bit sorer now that I was standing. The bathroom was right across from the room I was in and I gingerly stepped into the shower. What I had originally intended to be a quick shower turned into a long one as I tried to untangle the mess of long, knotted curls on my head. It was near impossible.

“Short hair was so much easier,” I said to myself as I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. Maggie had set out a well-worn light blue tank top and faded blue jeans. She even had my boots in the closet, waiting for me. I pulled the clothes on, carefully avoiding any movements that would tug at the stitching in my right shoulder. I didn’t have anything to put my hair up with because I’d snapped my hair band while trying to get it out of the rat’s nest that had been my hair. I decided to pull it over my left shoulder. Wiping the mirror of water residue, I looked at myself. Was it just me or were my eyes a bit bluer than usual? I glanced at the rest of myself, focusing on my back. Most of my lightning scars were hidden by the fabric of the tank. Some still peaked out around my neck and shoulders so I carefully arranged my hair to cover them. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of the marks. I just didn’t like seeing the reminder. I stepped into my scuffed boots and went to go looking for Maggie.

Flowers and herbs were hung from the walls of the hallway along with squiggly symbols which I couldn’t make sense of. It smelled like lavender and rosemary. At the end of the short hallway was the living room, lined with dark green furniture and- you guessed it- the exact same repetitive shade of lavender walls. In the far-right corner of the room was a small, circular, wooden table where Maggie was sitting. In front of her was a small first aid kit. I took a deep breath and sat next to her.

“Okay, let’s get these stitches out,” Maggie said as she soaked a small gauze pad in disinfectant and dabbed my shoulder with it.

“Stay still, you’re going to feel a bit of a pinch,” She ordered, picking up tiny, metal scissors. My shoulder stung as she clipped through the threads and pulled them out. When she had finished, she covered in with a large, square band aid.

“You should be fine, try to keep it clean and dry,” Maggie said as she tossed the stitches and gauze into the trash before washing her hands.

“Thanks, Maggie,” James said, entering the room.

“You’re welcome. I’m going to go work in the garden, let me know when you’re ready for me.” Maggie left through the sliding glass door and disappeared into the tall, flower filled bushes that surrounded her back yard.

“How are you feeling?” James asked, taking Maggie’s seat.

“I’m still fine,” I told him.

“Um, so I uh, wanted to apologize for before,” He started.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He ran his fingers through his messy sandy blond hair.

“With the hunter’s, I was upset with you and blamed you for all of it. I treated you like you’d done something wrong in killing the hunter and I was willing to leave you behind when you got shot protecting Xavier. You didn’t do anything wrong; I shouldn’t have turned on you,” he apologized quickly. It sounded like he had rehearsed it.

“You don’t have to apologize. It was my fault that the hunters were there, and I didn’t tell you guys what happened which might’ve helped,” I said. I didn’t deserve an apology, I’d killed someone. Everything that followed was karma. James reaction with the hunters was perfectly acceptable and I was just glad he hadn’t actually left me for dead.

“No, I do. Honestly, Xavier chewed me out for what I said. He’s really sensitive about that sort of thing so I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, I accept your apology,” I said as Xavier walked into the room.

“He apologized? Good, he was being such an ass with the whole ‘leave you behind’ bullshit,” Xavier said as he sat down next to us.

“I appreciate the support, Xavier, but you guys honestly don’t owe me anything.”

“Xavier has a rule about witches who need help,” James explained quickly.

“ _We_ have a rule,” Xavier said, his teasing smile disappeared. “There’s a good reason we have that rule, too.” He hesitated before taking a deep breath. “We were on an overnight school trip our senior year of high school when witch hunters found some of our coven practicing. The hunters tortured them until they found out where the rest of the witches were. My whole coven was wiped out while I was gone. We found their bodies when we got home.”

“I’m so sorry, Xavier,” I said.

“It’s okay, it was a long time ago. But that’s why I can’t stand to leave witches behind. I remember what happened to my family and I refuse to let it happen to anyone else while I stand by and do nothing.”

I leaned over and gave him a hug, careful not to hurt my shoulder.

“So now you know why we’re not leaving you behind, no matter what. And Jamie here is going to do his very best to stop being such an ass,” Xavier said as I pulled away. James sighed.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to drop you off with Maggie’s coven today though,” James said. Xavier elbowed him in the ribs.

“Come on dude. You just undermined my whole speech,” Xavier whined.

“I’ll go get Maggie so she can do her test. Then we can see if you’re staying or not,” James said as he got up and went outside to get Maggie.

I anxiously waited in my seat. My body was on high alert, but I didn’t know why.

“What sort of test?” I asked Xavier.

“It’s nothing to be afraid of,” He assured me. “As the head of her coven, it’s Maggie’s responsibility to protect her witches so she essentially does a skim of your mind to make sure you’re trustworthy and not a threat to her coven.”

“A skim? What sort of things does she see?” My anxiety was increasing. I took deep breaths, trying to lower my heart rate.

“Big, defining moments in your life, usually. Things that make you who you are. It can take anywhere from 1-12 hours depending on her skill and how long it takes her to get to know you,” Xavier explained. “But don’t worry, Maggie’s good at this and I’m sure you have nothing that will worry her in that noggin of yours.”

I forced a smile. His words hadn’t made me feel any better, only filled me with a strange sense of foreboding.

Maggie and James came back inside. She washed the dirt from her garden off her hands and sat down on one of her large, dark green sofas.

“Come here, Kyra. You’ll be more comfortable,” Maggie said, patting the spot next to her. I sat down, feeling the cushion sink from my weight.

“I’m going to put both my hands on you face. The more relaxed you are, the faster this will be. You ready?”

I nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm my fear, as she placed her hands on my cheeks.

“Close your eyes,” She said gently.

I did as she told me and heard her muttering under her breath.

“In mente, animi, nam mens. In covina, et covina, nam covina.”

I felt a foreign presence in the outskirts of my mind, trying to dig deeper. Heat and cold flushed through me simultaneously in an uncomfortable rush and the hairs on my arms stood on end. My eyes shot open as Maggie and I were thrown from the couch in opposite directions. The lights in the room shattering, scattering glass everywhere.

“What the hell?” James yelled, rushing to my side as Xavier helped Maggie to her feet. I stood up quickly, feeling the adrenaline. “Your eyes were glowing Kyra. Bright blue, like they were with the hunters and the lightning.”

“Are you okay?” Xavier asked Maggie.

“I’m alright,” She answered before turning to me. “You! You get the hell out of my house!”

“Maggie!” Xavier started. “She’s new, she has no control-“

“You are not welcome in my coven and I pray to the gods and beg the Fates that no other coven is careless enough to take you in,” she continues, ignoring Xavier.

“Maggie, come on,” Xavier pleaded.

“No. You’ve got a darkness in you, Kyra. A red fire that hides you. I’m not letting it anywhere near my family. I’m sorry boys, but you should get as far away from her as possible,” Maggie said.

“What did you see that has you saying this? What could be so bad that you would turn away one of your own?” James asked.

“All I saw was a wall of power. Most witches you can tell who they are by what type of magic you see in their mind but her, I don’t know what it is. It’s overwhelming and destructive and angry. Now get out! I’m not risking keeping her here any longer. GET OUT!”


	11. A Hunter Truck Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: homophobia

I ran out of the house and to the truck, leaning against it as I tried to steady myself. My body was still uncomfortably hot from whatever magic shit had happened back in the house. Xavier and James followed behind me with our bags.

"I didn't mean to. I didn't know. I swear-" I tried to apologize as soon as they were next to me but Xavier cut me off.

"We know. Maggie's superstitious. She's an old school witch, don't take it too seriously," he said.

"You're obviously more powerful than an average witch but you're not a monster. We aren't kicking you out," James promised.

"You're not?"

"Of course not. Did the whole 'we're not leaving you behind no matter what' get lost in translation?" Xavier joked, smiling. “Plus, Maggie thinks wireless phones and the internet will bring destruction so don’t worry about it.”

"There's a hunter truck stop near the border. We can stay there until we find a place for you," James said.

I wasn’t convinced. Her words had struck a nerve that had been exposed ever since I killed the hunter.

"What if she's right? What if I am a monster?" I asked, biting my lip and covering my face to try and keep from crying. 

"Every new witch thinks there's something wrong with them, especially if they aren't born into a witch family," Xavier assured me patting my arm.

"Trust me, I've dealt with real monsters and you're nothing like them," James insisted.

"You sure? You've known me for less than a week. I could be a serial killer for all you know," I said jokingly, uncovering my face and grinning up at him.

"I'm trying to be nice, Kyra. So far, you don't seem too awful of a person. I seriously doubt you could deal with killing anyone on purpose," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Thanks for the stellar complements," I teased. James smiled back. Damn, he looked beautiful when he smiled.

"We should get going if we want to get there before dark," James said.

We piled into the truck and drove off Maggie's property and back onto the main road.

"We're only a couple hours away," Xavier said, looking at the gps on his phone.

"So, what's a hunter truck stop?" I asked.

"It's sort of like a safe house but bigger. It's usually in an old abandoned building that hunters take over and use as a base of operations," James explained while focusing on the road.

"I try to avoid them, but we always end up there. I blame James," Xavier sighed, folding his arms.

"Do you not like them or something?" I asked, looking at Xavier.

"Nope," Xavier said, popping the 'p' at the end. "Unsurprising most hunters are guys which is fine when they're like James but usually truck stops are filled with asshole alpha males trying to one up each other with hunting stories, fights, and seeing who can kill the most monsters on a hunt."

"I thought your type of hunters worked with witches," I asked, confused.

"We do, but it's not like we are always with them. Usually we partner with them on occasion or if there is a local coven with a monster problem, we work together. But it's not as if we all live together like one big happy family all the time," James explained.

"Oh," I said, disappointed. I don't know what I had expected.

"The important thing is that there is safety in numbers and a truck stop is the safest place to be until we find you a coven," James said, trying to reassure me. “For all their differences, most hunters look after their own.”

I nodded. It wasn't like I had much of a choice, either way. Xavier rolled down his window and let the summer breeze run through the car. Hair waving in the wind, I reached to brush it out of my face when an electric chill shot through me.

\-----

The cool fall breeze rustled through my chin length hair as I looked out over the rocky beach. Waves crashed against the sand, but it wasn't loud enough to cover the sound of footsteps behind me. Arms wrapped around my waist and a chin tucked over my shoulder. I could smell the vanilla scent that I had learned to associate with my girlfriend.

"What can I do?" Katherine asked, her voice right next to my ear. "How can I help you?"

I bit my lip to stop from crying and turned around to hug her. As I sniffled, she rubbed my back.

"It's going to turn out fine, I promise," she told me. "You're one of the smartest people I know, and that professor was a jerk. He had no right to fail you because he didn't like what you wrote about."

"I shouldn't have done it; I knew it would piss him off. I just never thought he'd fail me and now I'm going to lose my scholarship," I said shaking my head.

"It doesn't matter what you wrote, you wrote it perfectly and you deserve a passing grade," she insisted, leaning back to look me in the eyes. "I proofread it myself."

"I don't know. Maybe I should just retake the class next semester and do an appeal for my scholarship," I muttered, looking at my shoes.

"Look at me," Katherine ordered. I looked into her chocolate brown eyes. "Everything will work out, believe me. Plus, the dean is pretty progressive. I’m certain she will take your side."

She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips, causing me to immediately relax. 

"I believe you," I said, leaning back in for a real kiss this time. My lips pressed more firmly against hers. Nipping at her bottom lip led her to open her mouth. She hummed against me before reluctantly pulling away.

"Good," she smiled. "Now let’s go get ice cream and catch up on that cheesy tv show you love."

"It's not that cheesy," I grinned, wrapping my arm around her waist as we walked away from the beach.

\-----

"Kyra, you okay?" Xavier said, hand shaking my still bruised and sore right shoulder.

"Ouch!" I yelped.

"Oh, sorry. You froze up and your eyes were glowing again. What happened?" Xavier asked, removing his hand.

"I was having a really vivid memory. It was like I was reliving it," I said, rubbing my eyes with my hands. I could still smell the salt from the ocean and feel Katherine's arms around me. I could even taste her lipgloss. It made me homesick.

James glanced over at me. "Do we need to pullover?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "No, I'm fine, just a bit disoriented."

"Do your eyes always glow when you use magic?" James asked.

"I don't know, I can't see my eyes," I replied, snarkily.

"You know what I mean. Has anyone else ever mentioned it before?"

"The only other person who would've see it is Gwen and she never said anything about it," I said, shrugging.

"It's not unheard of," Xavier said, understanding the concerned look on James’ face.

"It's not anywhere near normal either," James said.

"Great, I'm still a freak of nature. That's lovely," I grumbled. 

We were silent after that. Xavier attempted to start a conversation but eventually gave up and put headphones in. Closing his eyes, he leaned against the window and began snoring softly.

"He was out all night," James explained quietly. I nodded silently.

"I'm going to be honest with you," James said, keeping his eyes on the road. "I don't trust you."

"I- "

"Let me finish. I don't trust you but I'm doing this for Xavier, not you. I'm giving you a chance and I wasn't lying when I promised to keep you safe. But let's get one thing straight, if you are lying to us, if you aren't who- or what- you say you are, or if you end up putting Xavier in danger again...," he paused and looked me in the eyes. "I will kill you."

James looked back at the road. "I just wanted to make sure we were clear."

I took a second but nodded. I hadn't expected him to say anything like that, but I didn't blame him. That being said I wasn't going to let him think he could push me around with hos statement. "I understand- and just so we're clear, if the past week has taught me anything, it's that I'm not a fan of threats."

"Fair enough," James said.

Despite James' warning, I wasn't too worried. Something told me he wouldn't go through with it. Xavier slept the rest of the drive, only waking once we were on a bumpy dirt road and off the freeway.

"There it is," Xavier groaned, gesturing towards a large run-down building with faded blue paint and large, partially boarded up windows. The roof looked like it was about to fall to pieces and there were light scorch marks up the east side of the building.

"It's not that bad," James said.

"It used to be a mental hospital, it's creepy!" Xavier complained. “It probably has ghosts!”

“Come on, Xavier, ghosts aren’t real,” James said.

“Just because we haven’t seen any, doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

"What is- or was, I guess- a mental hospital doing all the way out hear in the middle of nowhere?" I asked Xavier, mildly amused by the ghost discussion.

"No neighbors to hear all the screaming," Xavier said seriously. James rolled his eyes.

James stopped the truck before we got close and rolled down his window as two men with large guns stepped out of the trees. 

"Hey guys, it's been a while," James called out. 

"James? I knew I recognized that piece of trash you call a truck!" One of the men said, smiling. He was tall and muscular with sandy blond hair and brown eyes.

"Hey, you brought the queer!" The other man jeered. He was shorter with blue eyes and blond hair. I flinched at the slur. While many of my LGBTQ+ friends used the word themselves, you could always tell when it was meant as an insult versus a description. I'd been lucky, growing up in California to not experience much homophobia- excluding my family- but it still pissed me off.

"I told you not to call him that, Jonah," James scowled.

"Don't worry about it, James, he's just jealous that he doesn't look this good," Xavier smirked, leaning over and winking at Jonah.

"Hey, I only say the truth," the blue-eyed man said, shrugging. "Who's the chick?"

"She's a witch, staying with us for a bit," James explained tersely.

"Nice, nice. Well if you need anything, come and find me," Jonah said, smirking at me. The other man elbowed him in the ribs.

"That's not likely," I muttered, earning a small grin from James.

"What's that, sweetheart?" Jonah asked.

"I'm good, thanks," I told him.

James smirked, shaking his head as we drove behind the building and parked next to several other cars.

"Dumb and Dumber's jokes never get old," Xavier groaned as he stepped out of the car.

"Jonah's the asshole, Elijah's just clueless," James said.

"Jonah's the blond who thinks being a dick is cool and Elijah's the other one, right?" I asked.

"Yup," Xavier confirmed.

"Gross," I said. "This is part of why I like dating women, they don't usually have the same aggressively outdated macho personality types that men do."

"Agreed," Xavier said. "That's why I avoid these places."

"Hey, we're not all that bad," James said, pretending to be offended.

I looked at him, raising my eyebrows. “Ah yes, the classic ‘not all men’ argument.”

"Okay, most of the hunters here are like that but not all are as bad as Jonah," James said, grabbing his bag as Xavier and I grabbed ours.

"Mmhmm," Xavier hummed sarcastically, obviously not believing it.

Before we opened the large, faded green French doors, James turned around and looked at me.

"Try not to do any magic in here. It makes some hunters uncomfortable," he instructed.

"It's racist, that's what it is," Xavier whispered to me as James opened the door.

"I heard that," James called back from inside the building.

"Good!" Xavier shouted.

James checked in with the surly looking old man at the counter. I noticed the line of shotguns he had leaning against the wall as he turned and grabbed us each a key to our own room with a circular tag attached, labeling which room number they went to. Xavier took my bag and shoved it at James, along with his own.

"You go take these upstairs. Kyra and I are going to start practicing. Outside the building," Xavier said, hooking his arm through mine and half dragging me out the back door and into the woods.

"First things first, while I'm teaching you, stay facing away from the building and me. I don't want you accidentally hurting anyone," Xavier said. “Just like with a gun, treat magic as a loaded weapon. You never point it at something you aren’t willing to destroy.”

"Okay," I nodded, somewhat disconcerted.

"Second, magic is different for every person. For some people they use sheer willpower to make things happen, other people need certain emotions, and others need to have a strong motivation. I personally need a goal and motivation. I have trouble doing magic under stress. Magic is nothing without you putting something behind it. Got it?" Xavier asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Third, and most important, when you get tired or dizzy, you stop. We don't know your limits yet and I don't want you burning out," he said.

"Burning out?" I asked.

"Burning out is what happens when you use a huge amount of magic at once- more than your body can handle. It literally burns away your ability to do magic and is usually lethal to the witch and anyone around them," Xavier explained seriously.

I shuddered at the thought. "Does that happen a lot?"

Xavier shook his head. "No, because we try to be careful. New witches are taught from the beginning to start slow. Now I want you to focus on that branch on the ground in front of you." He pointed to a stick about a foot long. "Remember how you feel when you use magic and channel it that way."

"What am I supposed to try and do?" I asked as he stepped behind me.

"Anything magical. The goal of this is just to get you practicing magic in a non-stressful environment so you can learn some control. Now close your eyes and focus."

Closing my eyes, I remembered how it felt when I threw lightning, when I had a vision, when I shoved the hunter. The feeling at Maggie’s house was different so I left that memory out. The other times an icy sensation had spread from my chest, my awareness heightened, and the adrenaline had pushed me to use magic. I felt it all and opened my eyes to see- not the branch, but the large evergreen tree behind it explode sending Xavier and I flying backwards.


	12. You're the Psychic, you tell me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: violence, blood, misogyny, drunk assholes

"Well that was unexpected," Xavier said as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"I am so sorry!" I said as I jumped to my feet.

"Don't worry about it! It's a good thing you weren't facing the building," he said, smiling.

"We heard an explosion. Is everyone okay?" Elijah said as he and Jonah ran to check on us.

"Yeah, we're fine. That was us, we'll be more careful," Xavier said. I pulled a couple leaves out of my hair.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Jonah asked me, ignoring Xavier.

"Yep, I'm good. Thanks," I answered quickly, avoiding eye contact. If anything, I felt pretty great. The fall had given me a bit of a jolt but releasing all that energy felt like lifting a weight off my chest. My head felt clearer and more focused than it had in a while.

"If you're sure?" Jonah said, his mouth turning up in a half smile.

I nodded, keeping myself from rolling my eyes and the two of them turned around and headed back.

"Maybe we should call it a day and go out for the evening?" Xavier suggested as soon as they were out of earshot. 

"I'm down for that," I said, tucking my golden-brown curls behind my ears.

Once we'd convinced James to come, we were on the road to the nearest bar.

The bar was poorly lit and a little grimy. but it had good nachos, so I wasn't going to complain. James ordered a beer and Xavier got a super sugary drink that I actually thought looked delicious. I got a soft drink because I didn't want to make my mind feel all sorts of foggy again. Plus, I had never been able to handle any amount of alcohol well. Even for as tall and decently filled out as I was, I was a lightweight.

"Kyra blew up a tree today," Xavier told James.

"Wow, what did the tree ever do to you?" James teased.

"I was aiming for a branch on the ground and I missed," I explained, shrugging, before wincing at the discomfort in my shoulder.

"At least it wasn't a person," James said in response, taking a sip of his beer.

I flinched visibly, remembering the witch hunter I had killed just days ago.

"Hey, I'm sorry," James said as he reached to touch my left arm. As his hand touched the skin not covered by my tank top, I felt the coolness of his fingers and then the uncomfortable stinging feeling that came along with the contact.

\------

A young boy slept on a faded brown couch, his dark blond hair resting over part of his face. His chest rose and fell as a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair covered him with a blanket. She brushed his hair off of his face and kissed his forehead as the front door opened. The petite woman quickly got up and hushed the man who walked in.

"You have been gone for days!" She whispered angrily. "I had no idea if you were okay or lying dead in a ditch somewhere! Would it kill you to call or send a text every now and then?"

"I'm fine and it might," The man said gruffly, dropped his black duffel onto the wood floor with a loud thunk.

"Shhh," she hissed at him. "He just fell asleep. He's been having nightmares and has barely slept at all since you left."

The man sighed and made a show of quietly closing the door and slowly removing his jacket.

"Did you find it?" She asked, her face softening as she took in the bruises on what was visible of his neck and the grimace as he moved his arms.

"Maybe, probably not. It's all just more rumors that I can't know for sure until I try," he answered, shaking his head.

"He's not safe here," the women said quietly. "My people can keep him safe. They may not respect me but he's your child too and they won't turn your family's blood away."

"He's not going anywhere!" The man said, raising his voice. "I'll be damned if I can't protect my own son!"

The boy shifted in his sleep but didn't wake up.

"Just give me more time," the man pleaded, running his fingers through his dark brown hair.

"Fine," she said. "But I won't wait until we have daemons breaking down our front door. If you can't pull this off, I'm taking him away. Whether you like it or not."

\----

"What was that?" James said, still rubbing his fingers.

"Um, I'm not sure. I think it was a memory, but it wasn't mine," I said before downing the rest of my coke. "We're my eyes glowing?"

"Yeah but I don't think anyone noticed," Xavier answered as James looked at me with concern.

"Okay well I'm going to get a refill." I slid out of the booth we were crammed in and walked to the counter, my thick rubber boot heels clicking on the hard floor. So much for a clear mind.

"Can I have a refill please?" I asked the bartender. She nodded and took my cup from me. As she filled it, the man to my right leaned towards me.

"How 'bout I buy you something stronger?" He asked, his words slurred together.

"No thanks, I'm good," I said, not looking at him as the bartender handed me my drink. I knew I looked good in the tank top, it left little to the imagination, but could random guys stop hitting on me. I turned to go back to my table feeling perturbed. Sweaty fingers wrapped around my upper right arm, holding me in place. "Let me go," I commanded clearly, looking him in the eye.

"Come on, stay for a little bit," The man said.

"Let go of me now," I ordered again, hissing at the pain in my shoulder as I started to pull away from his grasp.

“Sir, let go of the woman,” the bartender attempted to intervene.

"Don't be like that," he grumbled, I wasn’t sure which of us it was directed at.

Cool air filled my chest as I breathed in and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Before I could do anything, the man's hand was removed from my arm and he was on the ground, hand covering his nose which was trickling blood. James stood between us, hand on his gun. James looked like he was about to hit the man again bit Xavier grabbed James' hand.

"Come on Jamie. Let's just go," Xavier whispered. James gave a small nod, keeping his eyes on the man before he turned to leave.

I handed the bartender some of Gwen's cash to settle our tab along with a large tip then I followed them out the door.

When we reached the car, I apologized to James.

"It's not your fault," He said, rubbing his face with his hand. "But your eyes were glowing again, so I think it's best we avoid public places until you get that under control."

I got into the driver's seat and as James handed me the keys, his hand ever so slightly brushed mine. It stung a bit but, in that moment, I knew with complete certainty that the boy in my vision was James.

The drive home was quiet. James was still tense, his jaw clenched, and hands wrapped into fists on his lap. Xavier seemed to know better than to bother him and I certainly didn't want to say anything to them right now, so we continued in silence. The anxiety of the altercation was still fresh in my system and the surface of my skin prickled with sharp anticipation. It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn my eyes were a bit brighter blue than normal. 

When we arrived at the hospital, we shuffled silently to our rooms, muttering quiet good nights even though it was barely ten. So much for a relaxing night out.

I was exhausted from the adrenaline rush and the constant anxiety that refused to let up as I locked the door behind me and flopped onto my bed. Rolling over, I kicked off my boots and jeans before wrapping myself in the thin white sheets and scratchy wool blanket. Apprehension remained at the forefront of my mind as I struggled to fall asleep. The full moon peeked up over the horizon and I closed my eyes, hoping once again for a dreamless sleep. But of course, I wasn't going to get my wish tonight.

\----

The strong scent of human male wafted through the trees, musky body odor and mild fear. I grinned, flashing my elongated canines at the smell. Hunters, reckless male hunters. I took another sniff, no witches among them. Good. I didn't like witches, they smelt bitter and burnt, human but not quite. Plus, they were traitors, and most were anti-wolf though that was beside the point. I signaled for the pack to slow their approach, we wanted to catch the hunters before the moon peaked but we wanted them trapped, cornered. The hunters were stupid, they spoke loudly and stepped carelessly into the cavern we had led them to believe was home to a wolf.

"One track of prints leads through here, no evidence of any more than that," one man's voice said. He sounded so sure, so arrogantly certain.

"A lone werewolf? That's unlikely," Another man said, a small amount of doubt present in his voice.

Maybe all the hunters weren't stupid.

"Come one, Jamie. Just take the win. Maybe they'll have turned by the time we catch them, and you can have the pelt," the third male said convincing 'Jamie'. 

No, they were as stupid as most hunters I had encountered. Men usually were. There was a reason I was the alpha of the pack. I gestured with my clawed hand for the wolves to move in. Quickly, the hidden pack members surfaced from the deep recesses of the cavern where they had been hiding and pounced onto the two, larger, more idiotic hunters, knocking their weapons out of their hands and gripping their throats firmly while another clawed hand pressed warningly against their chests. I grabbed 'Jamie' by the throat as he turned towards the cavern opening a millisecond before my wolves and I attacked. Twisting his gun out of his hand, I mimicked the position of my fellow wolves to keep the hunters contained. 

"Sedate them, but remember, we want them unharmed for the ritual," I ordered and watched as my three other pack members injected a mild sedative into the hunters' necks. It would keep them in control but only stay in their system for a short while. They would be awake and alert by the time we were ready.

\----

I woke to the sound of quiet thunder and a dull, throbbing pain in the right side of my neck. Turning to look at the clock, I realized I hadn't even been asleep for an hour, it was only a little after 11:00. At this point in my experience as one of the 'supernatural' I knew my dream was more than just a dream and I threw my clothes on to go see where everyone was.

My shoes thudded down the hallway as I ran to James' room. I pounded on the door and, when I got no response, opened it to find it unoccupied. My heart sunk and I ran to Xavier, slamming my hand against his door until it opened.

"What?" He snapped, annoyed. He hadn't been asleep, that was good. 

"Where is James?" I asked, and he stood up straighter as he took in my appearance. 

"On a hunt, gods, are you okay? Your neck has some blood on it and your eyes are doing the thing again."

"They got caught. The wolves have them, at least 6 that I could see but I'm not sure. We need to go now!" I insisted, wiping away the droplets of blood from my neck.

Xavier grabbed his coat and followed me down to James' truck. They had taken one of the other hunters' cars to the hunt. Xavier drove like a madman and raced towards the site that the single werewolf was supposed to be living around.

"Why did they come out here anyway?" I asked, irritation masking my anxiety.

"Someone was saying they saw Bigfoot around here last full moon and Jonah and Elijah asked some more questions and it sounded like a werewolf sighting mid turn," Xavier explained hurriedly.

"Why did they go after it?" I asked.

"They wanted to kill it before it started killing people," Xavier continued.

"So, the living person has not actually hurt anyone yet and they went out to kill it 'just in case'?" I questioned, incredulous.

"Weres always end up hurting people if we don't stop them first. They can't help it, it's the animal instinct. They need to hunt and kill, and humans are everywhere," Xavier rationalized.

I shook my head, not understanding how easily he could talk about killing people before they'd done anything to deserve it.

"Look, you can act as high and mighty as you want but you had your vision for a reason and James is in danger because of the weres. They aren't human, they aren't natural, and they are dangerous. Someone has to do something about it."

As much as I didn't like the idea and as much as I didn't agree with it, I understood him. At the same time, I strangely felt as if I was being personally attacked. We arrived at the end of the road and parked by Jonah's car.

"Which way now?" I asked as we got out. It had taken us nearly thirty minutes to get here.

"I don't know, you're the psychic, you tell me!" Xavier said.

"I don't have this thing down to a science, can't you do a spell or something?" I argued, defensively.

"A spell would take time and prep that we don't have. Focus like we did before and figure it out."

I closed my eyes and tried to look for James, tried to focus, on anything besides my pounding heart and the sound of blood rushing through my ears and wind shifting the branches of the trees around me. Nothing. All I could feel was my panic.

"I don't know!" I insisted, opening my eyes.

"Well you need to try harder because if you don't, James and those other two assholes are going to get eaten or worse. Figure. It. Out."

I nodded and closed my eyes once again. Trying to let go of the fear I felt in my own body, I mentally searched through the trees for answers. I felt Xavier's fear... and his disgust? I wasn't entirely sure what the second emotion was but at least I was onto something. I looked farther into the woods, visualizing everything with my eyes shut tight, reaching out mentally for other minds. Fear. I found fear. Elijah's mind was full of it as he started to wake up. I riffled through the other minds surrounding him, wolves. They were uncomfortable to look into and I shied away from them, still searching for that one particular mind I wanted to find. Anger. Bright, red hot, painful to look at anger. It was James, he was there, he was alive, and he was pissed. Touching his mind hurt like touching a flame but I pushed myself in, trying to get a better sense of his location. 

"Gotcha," I muttered, opening my eyes. "Follow me," I ordered.

"Your eyes are glowing," Xavier whispered, he was still afraid. I wasn't, I was angry, a reflection of the mind I had touched.

"Good."


	13. Blood Bath on a Full Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Violence, death

I briskly walked towards the unique fiery glow of James' mind; my path lit by the light of the full moon as it peered through sparse storm clouds. Fear was no longer filling my mind, anger and excitement had taken its place. Excitement was a new emotion to associate with this feeling of power, I wasn't sure how to deal with it, but anger I could focus on. Anger I could use, even if it wasn't my own.

The warm buzz of the wolves' minds surrounded Jonah and Elijah's fearful uniform thoughts. The wolves felt almost familial, not so much the wildly violent and animalistic feeling I had expected. James mind was still angry, still bright, still different, fluid, moving, hard to touch, comforting while also painful to look at. The wolves, there were definitely 6, all had a slight and well restrained feral tint to them. All except one. The alpha female whose eyes I had seen through in my vision was calm, collected, patient. She was, unfortunately for us, also alert.

The wind changed direction, instead of pushing against our faces, it was now at our back, sending our scent towards the wolves.

"I know you're out there," the she-wolf called. "Are you going to come to us, or do we have to come get you?" There was a playfulness in her voice, but her mind was calculating, thinking, analyzing us.

I looked at Xavier, he was afraid but ready. We were going in without a plan and even if we freed the others, the wolves still outnumbered us. I didn't care. The cold electricity that had sparked in me at the bar was still present and growing. Confidence filled me as I felt the icy power wrap around me like a blanket. Maybe I wasn't completely in control, but I was certain that I would get out of this situation alive.

"We're coming out," I yelled back.

I closed the minimal distance between us in long, slow strides, emerging from the shelter of the trees with Xavier close behind me. Xavier was nervous, his eyes darting around and examining the still human forms of the wolves. They sensed his disconcertment but were unfazed, their minds staying steady. Jonah, Elijah, and James, were bound with their hands tied behind their back attacked to their ankles, gagged and blindfolded in front of a large silver trough that resembled a bathtub. The wolves were spread around us and truly did look human, until you look closer and saw the sharp, thick claws that replaced fingernails, the elongated canines, and the carefully poised way they stood. It was inhuman.

"What are you?" The she-wolf asked politely, tilting her head to the side, her short, shaggy brown hear shifting as she did. "I can smell the witch-" she wrinkled her nose "-but you smell different. Like snow and lightning."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" I responded.

She shrugged, relaxing her posture. "I suppose not."

"I'd like you to give the humans back," I said with an even tone. My confidence was exhilarating, and the magic surging through me was almost intoxicating

"You would, wouldn't you?" She replied, watching my face closely. Looking for weakness, hesitation.

"It's why we're here," I said.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that," She replied, straightening her back, preparing.

"Why not?" I asked, matching her tone.

"Because they’re were-" Xavier interrupted but I stopped him, waving my hand to tell him to stay calm. His angry tone had upset the wolves, low growls emanating deep in their throats. 

"We need them and have a right to their lives," the she-wolf explained, unfazed. She barely spared a glance towards Xavier before returning her gaze to me.

"What right?" I hissed as a short ripple of thunder came through the clouds overhead.

The she-wolf looked up at the moon and then back at me. "Each has killed wolves in their time as a hunter, without trial or mercy. Some innocent, some guilty. But they are dead all the same. This is justice for our kind."

"Killing them without trial or mercy is justice?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"A necessary evil. The time is almost here. We need their blood for our ritual," She said quickly, becoming impatient.

"I can't let you kill them," I said, trying to stall.

"Not that I think you could stop us, but we need their blood to control the shift. Bathing in the blood of humans once every decade or so keeps us in control. The wolf and the person remain connected, the wolf is never allowed to harm innocents. We are all safer. Isn't this better than the alternative? No control, possible monthly murders?" She was inching closer to me during her gruesome explanation.

"I'm not going to argue with you about the morality of this with you. Killing is still killing, you still end up with dead people no matter what you think they have done. Give them back now!" I ordered, taking a deliberate step towards the she-wolf. Loud thunder snapped above us and the wolves growled.

"Subdue them. Whatever means necessary," she commanded her wolves, turning away from me. 

Xavier was immediately defensive, hands raised to his waist, and muttering words- spells I assumed. Two wolves charged him and howled immediately in pain as if they had been burnt when their hands made contact with him. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he continued chanting.

A single wolf tried to grab me which was a mistake. I threw my head forward and connected my forehead to the bridge of his nose which a dull crunch. Blood streamed down his mouth as he covered his nose with his palm and still tried to grab me with his free hand. I planted a firm kick against his chest, careful not to use full force and repeat past mistakes. Even holding back, I could feel his bones give way as he was shoved to the ground, clutching at his ribs. 

The she-wolf had jumped towards Jonah and during the distraction, had a 10-inch-long knife placed at his throat while the other wolf held him steady over the silver trough. Xavier was still holding his two wolves at bay, they had begun circling him, waiting for his power to drain so they could attack. Knowing I was the only one able to stop her, I lunged for the she-wolf but was knocked out of the way by her quick footed pack member. I shoved the snarling wolf off of me with full force, tossing him into the air and onto the ground but before I could even rise from my place in the dirt, the she-wolf cut her blade deep into Jonah's throat. His blood gushed out into the silver basin as he writhed, weakly gurgling and trying to scream through his gag as he died.

Too many things were happening at once, the noise was deafening. Between the snarls of the wolves, the muffled cries of Elijah, and the pounding in my ears. The wolf I had shoved off was still breathing, I could see their chest rising as they took shallow breaths, but they weren't getting up anytime soon. The she-wolf tossed Jonah's drained, empty body off to the side. The fear in his mind was gone, the thoughts in his mind were gone, it was empty, a collapsing void of nothingness. I recoiled mentally at the feeling, like peering into a black hole, terrifying and unnatural. 

Raising the knife over the silver blood bath, the she-wolf allowed Jonah's blood to slowly drip off the tip of the blade, not wanting to waste any of it. James was slowly sawing at his restraints, I could tell by the soft rocking of his body and the focus that filled his mind. Sitting up, I shook off the impact from the wolf as the she-wolf reached for Elijah. She raised her knife as he struggled to escape her grasp. I jumped up and charged the alpha, knocking the knife out of her hand and towards James while she and I fell onto the ground. James heard the knife drop on the dirt next to him and turned around to try and grab it with his unbound hands after removing his blindfold.

The she-wolf rolled out from under me, pinning me to the ground and wrapping her claws around my throat, piercing my skin. I winced in pain and tried to pull her hands from my neck, but as I pulled, her nails dragged deeper across my skin. I couldn't breathe, she squeezed tighter and tighter. I glanced at Xavier and I could tell he was starting to stumble. His mind... flickered... I didn't know how much longer he could hold out for. I could see James or Jonah, and the 6th wolf was nowhere to be seen. Reaching for the she-wolf's face, I tried to dig at her eyes but her arms were too long, I couldn't reach her. My vision blurred and my ears were filled with a low ringing. Thunder boomed as I tried to reach for my magic but it slipped away as the pain and lack of oxygen weakened me. 

Warmth dripped onto my chest and the pressure disappeared. The she-wolf's lifeless body slumped against me before being shoved off by James who was holding the crimson coated knife that had been used to kill Jonah and now the she-wolf. I gasped painfully as air filled my lungs and James helped me to my feet before rushing to help Jonah and Xavier with the other two wolves. The 6th, unaccounted wolf lay gutted with its intestines on the ground where James had been tied.

It wasn't difficult to dispatch the remaining wolves. The moon had peaked and the wolves began convulsing as hair sprouted from their body, their bones cracked and shifted, and their noses elongated. James handed Elijah the knife. Elijah gripped the handle tightly before swiftly beheading the helpless, half formed creatures. I flinched as I felt their minds empty and collapse into nothingness. Just as I had felt with Jonah. I tried to withdraw into the relative safety of my own thoughts, but I could still remember the wolves fear and pain. That wasn't the worst of it. No. The worst was knowing what came after. They just became empty shells, nothing left to show who they were, just their dead, mangled corpses. Where had that spark gone? That hum of their mind, where had it gone? Was it dead too? Did it go somewhere else? Heaven? Hell? The (both literal and metaphorical) blood bath laid before me and I couldn't unsee it. I couldn't stop seeing it, I couldn't turn away. 

The wolves I had incapacitated began to stir; the light hum of their minds was increasing as pain became aggressive in their thoughts. They had stopped turning mid shift, unable to be fully in one form or another, unable to even stand. My mind flooded with guilt at the pain that I had inflicted. Elijah and James moved toward them, Xavier rested against a tree trunk, face flushed, breath coming in quick pants. I realized their intent and yelled for them to stop.

"You killed enough of them. They're already injured. Just let them go," I whispered, already knowing they couldn't do that, wouldn't do that. To his credit, James hesitated.

"Can we leave them? Their pack is gone, and they probably won't heal enough to hurt anyone for a few full moons at least," James whispered.

"No, Jonah's dead," Elijah stated and swung the large knife at the half-formed wolves, hacking away at them. I clenched my fists as I felt their life force slip away into nothingness. It was too much for me.

Turning away, I vomited again and again until I was just dry heaving, my stomach clenching painfully. I didn't stop until I heard soft footsteps behind me and James' hand carefully touched the clothed small of my back in an attempt to provide comfort. The slight burn of his touch through my clothing and the unique feeling of his mind helped me force the memories of the dying wolves away from my thoughts. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Thank you," I muttered, voice hoarse as I turn to face him.

"I'm sorry. Death is a necessary part of our lives now. They would've hurt someone eventually, they would've killed me and Elijah too if you hadn't come for us," He said quietly. I leaned towards him and hid my face in his chest, nodding as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around me. I didn't want to agree with him, but I knew he was at least partly right. Once you were willing to kill, who's to say when you will stop?


	14. Crimson Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: blood, violence, anxiety, guilt

After a few deep breaths, I went to help Xavier walk back to the car while James and Elijah dealt with the bodies. Knowing it was going to take a while, James told me to drive Xavier home. He could tell how exhausted the witch and I were. Driving back to the hospital, I couldn't help but glance back at the smoke as it wafted over the treetops. Burning the evidence was apparently the hunter's method of choice. I helped Xavier up to his room, asking if he needed anything, before waiting on the steps in front of the building for James and Elijah to come back. The blood on my clothes had dried and the wounds on my neck were closing. They should probably be washed; I didn't know if my special healing powers would protect me against infection, but I couldn't bear to look at myself in the mirror right now. I felt responsible for the wolves’ and for Jonah’s death. It didn’t matter if it was a rational feeling, I couldn’t help it/

Sitting outside all alone let me pretend nothing had happening. All I had to focus on where the trees and the stars that lit up the now cloud free sky. I just had to avoid looking at myself or my hands. I had to pretend I wasn't even there to make it bearable. 

I had started to nod off when the sound of a car pulling up to the building startled me awake. Angry, muffled voices could be heard from the car before the doors slammed open and shut.

"Just leave it, Elijah. We would be dead if not for her," James whispered.

"Jonah would still be alive if not for her," Elijah hissed, stomping up to the door before he saw me and shook his head, entering the hospital. James remained outside, sitting next to me.

"It's not true," he told me. "This isn't your fault. Don't let yourself feel guilty. If anything, it's our fault for going in so blind."

"The blood...," I whispered, barely even audibly. "And their minds just ... collapsed ...." I didn't realize I was crying until I felt the tear drip onto my hands. My hands which were still covered in flecks of dried blood.

"You saw them?" James asked softly.

"I looked, to find you, I looked, and I saw them and once I found them ... I couldn't undo that," I said. "I felt them break." I breathed in and choked back a sob.

"Kyra, I'm sorry, I would've had you leave before had I known you were that psychically sensitive. You shouldn't have had to go through that, no one should have to feel that," he said. I looked at him in confusion.

"How do you know what it feels like?" I asked.

He was silent and didn't move for a minute. I could sense his mind, turning, twisting, deciding.

"I think you're like me, at least sort of," James said carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't talk to people about this. X knows but we don't go telling strangers or even the other hunters about it, okay?"

I nodded, still confused.

"I'm part fae."

"That is not what I was expecting you to say."

"The fae- faeries- are real. My mom was half fae and my dad was a human as far as I know-" As he said that specific part, I knew it wasn't the truth at least not the whole truth, but I let it be. "They're both gone now but I have certain abilities from the fae DNA. I can sense the truth in people’s words, though I have to really focus for that. When I touch someone, I can get the general outline- or shape or whatever it is- of their mind. I can tell if they are a witch or a were or a vamp or human or whatever. I've never met another fae and the only reason I even knew about my mom was because I found some of her old journals after she died. I'm stronger and more durable than humans but not by much. I've never been able to do magic except the weird touch and see your brain thing. When we first met and I touched your hand, you were different than any mind I had ever seen. Maybe it's because you're fae...." He said.

I took a moment to think about it. I was fairly sure my parents were my biological parents; I didn't look exactly like them but close enough that it made sense. They definitely weren't magical. They were perfectly normal run of the mill humans. Being a fae wouldn't match what Gwen had told me but she wasn't trustworthy either.

"How do you know what it feels like when someone dies?" I asked, deciding to ignore everything else he had just said for the time being. 

"My mom. She was shot and I held her hand as she died. I couldn't see inside when she died, I couldn't see as much as I can now. I just saw how bright her mind was and then it wasn't," James explained.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"It happened a long time ago, but I still remember. You felt 7 die tonight, I don't even know how you are keeping yourself together, especially if you were more attached than I am. You're strong, Kyra," he told me. "You'll be okay." 

I leaned my head on his shoulder. His presence was relaxing, no longer painful to be near him, instead it was comforting. The electric feeling that I associated with his touch didn’t bother me anymore. It felt safe. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up in James’ arms as he struggled to open my door while carrying me.

"It's okay, I'm awake," I mumbled, setting myself on my feet. "Thanks for what you said."

He nodded before turning around and heading down the hall and towards his bedroom. I entered my room and carefully closed and locked the door behind me. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was well after 4 in the morning. Groaning inwardly, I kicked off my shoes and began the arduous process of peeling blood-soaked clothing off my body. At least I wasn't as injured like I was last time I had to do this. My clothes gathered in a pile on the floor of the adjoining bathroom before I finally stepped into the warm water of the bath I had drawn for myself. The water immediately turned murky red from the blood of the wolves that coated my skin mixed with my own from the shallow wounds on my throat. I let the blood and dirt soak off of my body before draining, rinsing, and refilling the tub. This time I scrubbed, trying to destroy anything physical that remained to remind me of what happened. At least the terrible images were no longer floating through my mind of their own accord- not since my talk with James. I was starting to fall asleep again and forced myself out of the tub to dry off. I pulled on some cleanish pajamas (at least they didn't have any blood on them) and flopped on the bed. Rolling myself up in the blankets like a burrito and then tucking myself into the fetal position with one of my pillows over my head. Once I felt secure, I fell asleep.

_Lying on clouds. Warm starlight. Green eyes so close. Shining bright moon. Red moon. Red blood. Red hair. Gwen._

_"Now's not a good time, Kal," I said._

_"It never is, but you made me a deal," a male voice replied._

_"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed._

_"What I really want is to meet that girl you've been stalking-"_

_"Never gonna happen," I cut him off, he knew he was never getting close to Kyra. I wouldn't even let him know her name although I was certain he had already done some snooping of his own._

_"But I'll settle for your assistance with Australia," the man continued, unfazed._

_"You want my help with Christopher, really? What for?" I asked, irritated._

_"The fae have invited me to a ball. I am requiring all of us to attend and he is refusing. I need us to show an united front so all the daemons are coming, no matter what. Your particular talents would be useful in persuading him," Kal said._

_"You mean he's had a crush on me for centuries and even though he is 100% not my type I should convince him to come with us by using my feminine wiles," I stated dryly. How many times do you have to tell a guy that you are only into women before they respect that? Christopher was so annoying._

_"Yes, essentially."_

_"Fine, I'll- shit I got to go!" I hung up the phone and chased after Kyra as she disappeared into the woods._

_My long, crimson hair whipped back and forth as I nimbly avoided roots, following Kyra into the dark._

_"Kyra!" I called out. "Crap." Taking a moment, I caught my breath and wiped the moisture from the rain off of my still present sunglasses. Cupping my hands together, I focused on creating a small ball of red light about the size of a cantaloupe. Tossing it up in the air, it slowly flew deeper into the woods as I followed. As soon as I saw the light from the witch hunters' torches, I waved my hand and the floating orb disappeared. Peering through the woods, I saw Kyra crying over the body of a hunter while another screamed at her._

_I angrily stalked into the clearing, putting myself in between Kyra and the now charging hunter. Once he was in arms reach, I caught him by the throat and squeezed._

_It wasn't as if I killed people for fun- I killed them because it was necessary. That didn't stop me from enjoying it. Did that make me a bad person? Possibly, but I didn’t really care as long as Kyra was safe. The helpless man flailed, trying to grab me as I raised him into the air. Unfortunately for me, he knocked the sunglasses from my face, revealing my true eyes. Eyes that were impossible to hide from Kyra through magic, so I had resorted to use plastic. Dropping his lifeless body, I turned to look at Kyra. She was terrified of me. Damn it, that was what I was trying to avoid. I stepped towards her, but she took off like a blur. Calling after her was pointless, she was gone._

I woke up from my dream confused. It was another memory, Gwen's memory. Why couldn't I just close my eyes and sleep? All these dreams, visions, memories, whatever were exhausting. I rolled over and looked at the clock, not even 6 am yet. I could try to grab a few more hours of sleep before facing the day.


	15. Think of the Redhead and She Shall Appear

It's a strange thing, looking through someone else's eyes. You get a new understanding of them, a connection you never had before, and sometimes one you never wanted to begin with. They become a part of you. For me, it was more than just seeing, it was feeling what they felt. I didn't want that connection with Gwen, but it was there, and it couldn't be undone. She had genuinely cared for me and been fiercely protective. After all I had been through and everything I had seen, was she really the bad guy? She never hurt me, never threatened me, only tried to keep me safe. I couldn't say the same for James. I didn't want to think about that, honestly, I didn't want to think about anything at all. I just wanted to go back to sleep. But sleep wasn't going to fix anything, it would probably only make me feel worse. I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept peacefully.

Sighing, I got out of bed and went to the restroom, examining the bloody mess of clothes on the floor. I scooped them off the ground and placed them in the sink, pouring hot water and soap all over them before leaving them to soak. I doubt it would help much but I decided to leave them there. I didn't even bother to wipe up the small amount of blood still left on the tiles. After scrounging through my pile of clothes that I had collected since my escape from the hospital morgue, I found one of the first outfits that Gwen had given to me, still relatively intact and clean. Pulling them onto my bruised and scratched body, I walked up to my door and reached for the handle. 

But I wouldn't open it. I just stared at the doorknob, wondering what I would have to deal with on the other side. It felt like everything I was afraid of was waiting for me outside that door. I was anxious, though that had always been normal for me. Jonah was dead and Elijah was grieving, he blamed me- that I knew. James and Xavier's mental state were a mystery to me. Were they sad? Angry? I was still an outsider to their way of life, and they had just lost a fellow hunter during a gruesome altercation with the wolves. Would seeing me upset them? Would it upset me?

My room suddenly seemed confining. It wasn't safe, it was a cage and I needed to get out now. Yanking the door open, I ran down the stairs and out into the woods, just far enough that I couldn't see the run-down walls of the hospital. I collapsed on the slightly wet forest ground and stared at the blue, cloudless sky that just barely showed through the tops of the trees. The air still smelled like rain but 

I stretched me arms out and relaxed, my back on the moist ground. Grasping the soil and moss that grew and breathing in the fresh air, I felt the tension drain out of my muscles. If anyone was watching me right now, I probably looked strange, but I didn't really care. All I wanted right now was the pressure on my chest to go away. I felt so alone, so isolated, and so overwhelmed. My dream made me miss Gwen. I almost wished I had stayed with her instead of running. I just wanted to get away from all this death. If I had stayed with Gwen, would I feel safer?

I didn't have much more time to think about what could have been before I heard heavy footsteps approaching. It wasn't James, definitely not Xavier, maybe-

"You're some weird witch, you know that right?" Elijah said angrily. I stood up and brushed myself off, thinking his question was rhetorical. Elijah's eyes were red and puffy, he'd been crying which was understandable. I didn't know what he wanted from me, but he was staring at me, waiting for me to speak. 

"I'm really sorry about Jonah," I said honestly.

"If you had paid more attention, he would still be alive!" Elijah yelled.

"I - I- I did my best, I don't understand what else I could have done," I stuttered, surprised by how much rage was directed at me. Angry heat rolled off his skin in waves, I could feel it as it hit me, uncontrollable and unreasonable.

"If you had started fighting the weres instead of talking to them, he would be here!"

"I am so sorry about what happened to him. I was trying to diffuse the -"

"You were weak. You were afraid of killing monsters and Jonah's dead because of it. Do you know what we do to witches who betray hunters? To monster sympathizers?" His voice was quieter now and I could smell alcohol on his breath even from several feet away. His hands were clenched in fists, knuckles white. This was not a good situation for me to be in.

"I didn't betray you, I came to help you," I said softly, raising by hands in between us to try to show him I wasn't a threat. I wasn't ready for this confrontation, not by myself anyway. I wish I had just stayed asleep. I wish I had just stayed with Gwen.

"But you did. You chose weres over humans. Have you ever even killed a monster or just other humans?" He hissed, stepping forward. I stepped back, keeping a distance between us.

"I don't want to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anyone."

"Death is a necessary part of this line of work," Elijah said, his words easily echoing what James had told me the night before.

I was about to speak in my defense. I hated that saying even more now than the first time I had heard it but before I could say anything, he quickly pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed it at me.

Before I knew what was happening, there was a flash of red hair and Elijah was on the ground with a thud. His gun in Gwen's hand, pointing at him instead of at me with her index finger wrapped around the trigger.

"Don't kill him," I said after a moment of confusion. "Please don't kill him, he's drunk and grieving and he's harmless now."

I had no idea why Gwen had chosen now of all times to show up, but I didn't want to see any bloodshed today.

"He would've shot you and burned your body. He wouldn't have felt remorse," Gwen said without looking at me. Even with her words, she lowered the gun and crushed it in her fist like it was made of clay and dropped the hunk of metal onto the ground. Elijah got up as fast as he could and ran back to the hospital before she could change her mind. 

Gwen turned to face me, her bright crimson eyes staring into mine. No sunglasses this time, instead she was dressed in a black crop top, red leather jacket, black jeans, and thick 4-inch-high burgundy boots. She was absolutely gorgeous and ridiculously terrifying. I took a step towards her, cautiously.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," she replied, her tone even.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"You wanted me or at least were thinking about me enough for me to hear it," she said. "Plus, I would never leave you unprotected."

"I have more questions. Are you going to be honest with me this time?" I asked, carefully.

"I never lied to you, Kyra," she said softly, taking a small step forward.

"Kyra!!!" James yelled as he and Xavier ran towards me.

"Finally, the Calvary has arrived," Gwen muttered with a smirk, not breaking eye contact.

"Get away from her!" James ordered, pulling a gun on Gwen. She sighed and turned around, but I quickly stepped in between them before the altercation could escalate.

"Hey, put the gun down. She hasn't done anything," I stated firmly.

"Then why did Elijah come in ranting about some crazy red headed bitch with super strength?" James asked, not moving a muscle.

"Hey! First of all, bitch is taking it a bit far. I prefer the terms assertive and goal oriented. Second of all, I stopped him from trying to kill Kyra," Gwen explained, faking offense.

"Elijah was going to shoot me and Gwen stopped him without hurting him," I said.

"Well, he might have a bit of a bruise-"

"That's not helping, Gwen," I hissed at her. She shrugged.

"She's still a monster, we kill monsters!" James yelled.

"Just leave it. She's not one you can kill anyway so put down the friggin' gun, James," I ordered.

"I guess we should probably talk," Gwen said to me as James reluctantly lowered his weapon.

"We have nothing to say to you. You should leave," Xavier said.

"It's not up to you. You two couldn't keep Kyra safe from your kind and someone needs to protect her," Gwen said sternly.

"I don't need anyone's protection and it was never their job to do anything for me," I said. Gwen exaggeratedly rolled her beautiful red eyes at me.

"How many times do you have to be in danger for you to realize you need some help?" Gwen asked.

"She doesn't need your help. No one needs your help," James hissed. I ignored his hatred filled comment and continued addressing Gwen.

"James saved me from the wolf and I've saved myself plenty of times," I insisted.

"I'm not going to explain myself to you in front of them," Gwen told me gently.

I paused, thinking carefully. Gwen seemed to know more about the new me than anyone else and I doubted she was going to hurt me. I needed answers that James and Xavier couldn't give me, and other witches refused to.

"Where should we go?" I asked once I made up my mind.

"Kyra, you aren't going anywhere with her. You can't trust her!" James stated angrily.

"The lady does what she wants," Gwen said with a smirk. She snapped her fingers and she and I disappeared and reappeared somewhere else. 

We were still in the forest but near a small cliff overlooking the rest of the slight hills and valleys that made up the area.

"Don't worry, we're not far. I'm not going to hurt you; I just wanted a place without distractions. Your hunters are a few miles that way. If you want to leave, I won't stop you," she said quickly as I caught my breath from the sudden change in location and elevation.

"I'll stay," I said and sat down on the ground next to wear she was standing. Gwen gracefully sat down as close to me as possible without touching me.

"There are somethings I don't want to tell you yet for your safety, but I promise everything I say will be the truth and as much of it as I can tell you."

"Why won't you tell me everything?" I asked. She looked at me, exasperated.

"If you know certain things then you will be on the radar of certain powerful and dangerous people and you could be in a lot of trouble," Gwen said slowly. I looked at her carefully, trying to figure out whether I could trust her or not. I had an idea.

"Can I try something?" I asked, reaching towards her cheek.

"You want to feel if you can trust me or not. Go ahead," Gwen said with complete certainty.

I touched her tan, warm cheek with my palm and looked, not with my eyes but with my mind. She was like fire, beautiful, blood red fire, completely overwhelming. I closed my eyes and focused, trying to push through the outer layers of her thoughts and deeper into her intentions. As I dug deeper, I found thoughts of me. Devotion. Love. Fierce protectiveness. Fear.

I broke away in shock.

"Oh, um. Okay, I'm listening now," I said, leaning back against the trees. Her emotions were so powerful, and she hid them so well. Why was she so connected to me?


	16. The Last Thing I want is to be Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: violence, graphic depiction of death, torture, depression

"The first thing you should know is you aren't safe with the humans- James isn't all the way human and I have my reasons for trusting him with you and not chasing after you and bringing you back the moment you left. Xavier is a mildly competent witch and he hasn't given me a reason to doubt him- yet," Gwen began and I listened carefully, looking for lies.

"When I first found you after your change, you were terrified, you literally fell into my arms. I hid my eyes from you because I knew it would freak you out. Magically, I usually hide them from humans and other supernatural beings but illusions like that are hard to make strong enough to fool you.

"Your instinct was to run, and I had to keep you safe, so I did use magic to influence you into trusting me. It took a _lot_ of energy and in the end, it obviously wasn't enough to keep you near me. So, once you left, I had a task to do-"

"Australia?" I half whispered, half asked.

"Yes, how did you...?" Gwen questioned, somewhat surprised.

"I dreamt about it last night." I shrugged.

"Knowledge like that is good but it also makes you dangerous to the wrong people. They'll either try to kill you or use you," Gwen warned.

"Like Ka-"

"Don't say his name." Gwen stopped me mid word.

"Okay," I agreed recognizing the fear in her voice. "He's one of the people you're so worried about?"

"Yes, if he found out about you... I don't know if I could stop him from taking you," Gwen answered quietly.

"Why would my visions make me so dangerous to people like him? I'm barely seeing anything useful and a lot of it is without context," I asked her, wanting to understand.

"Imagine you are thousands of years old. You have lived through everything, seen everything, know -almost- everything. Imagine all you care about is your power, keeping hold of it and growing it. You're ruthless and cruel about it. Now imagine how you would react if someone was able to know what couldn't know or see your secrets. After thousands of years, knowledge like that accumulates," Gwen explained.

"Is that how old you- your kind are? Thousands of years old?" I asked in awe.

"Yes, but it doesn't feel like it. In humans, the mind slowly starts to collapse under the weight of all their years lived, but with daemons, we can process things better, faster, and not have our minds deteriorate as we age. If anything, our minds get sharper more dangerous," Gwen explained. She was really trying to drive home the whole "you're in danger" thing.

"If you were so afraid of leaving me alone, why did you let me go? Why did you trust James? How did you even know I was with him?" I questioned quickly. 

"I followed you, not physically, but I watched you. I saw you crash the car by the way, you never were a good driver," she muttered quietly. "I was going to come then but you and James... you have a connection of sorts. I don't understand it and I can't explain it to you. He's different, not like you or me. Stronger than the other hunters. I knew you would be safe by him while I was away. He’s the one you’ve been dreaming about, right?"

I nodded slowly, avoiding her eyes.

“Then I think the Fates want you together for some reason.”

We sat quietly for a moment as I thought about what I needed to know from her.

"Why didn't my mom recognize me?" I whispered.

Gwen stiffened, her expression hardening. "Everything I did, I did to keep you safe," she said slowly, preparing herself for my reaction.

"What did you do?" I asked accusingly, now on edge.

"If you went home with your new magic, you wouldn't be safe- your family wouldn't be safe. I needed you to be able to go off the grid. You needed to be able to disappear."

Realization slowly dawned on me. I stood up, stepping away from her. "You did it? You made her forget me? Did you fake my death too?"

She didn't respond to my questions but that gave me the answers.

"How could you? You said it yourself, I was absolutely terrified1 Was the coma your idea too?!" I yelled at her.

"No! The coma was your body's natural process to heal and change. I just kept the doctor's from noticing anything they shouldn't have," Gwen answered quickly, standing up and brushing herself off.

The sky was no longer clear, and I could hear the thunder rolling in.

"Is it permanent? What you did? Can you undo it? Fix it! I want to go home!" I begged. Rain started sprinkling down on us, filling the air will the smell of petrichor. 

"I won't undo it, even if I could. It wouldn't fix anything. Look what you are doing right now. You think it's safe for you to be around regular people? Around your family? You are different, powerful, and dangerous and not in control at all. You can't go home like this!" Gwen yelled back over the loud pounding of the rain.

"I wouldn't be like this if I was home and away from all this hunter, magic bullshit. Take me back!"

"No! What would've happened if you ignored your visions? That girl would be dead you would _know,_ and you would be miserable, and this would happen." Gwen gestured to the darkening sky.

"So, what do I do? The witches rejected me. Hunters either don't trust me or want me dead. You are shady as hell even if you care about me. Where do I go? I'm alone now and it's your fault!" I screamed at her. The rain was pouring now, and flashes of lightning lit up the sky. I was so angry that I didn't care that I was soaked to the bone and shivering in the cold. The cold was a familiar, almost comforting feeling.

"You're not alone. I'm here, I will always be here," Gwen tried to reassure me.

"I'd rather stay with James; he didn't keep me from my family."

"He knows nothing about you. You and I have more in common than you do with him," Gwen insisted jealously.

"He thinks I'm part fae, is that true?" I asked angrily as water dripped down my face.

"Ha, as if," Gwen scoffed.

"Then what? What can you possibly tell me? Not what I am or why? Not what the fuck is going on. All I know is that you are obsessed with me and have been stalking me and now manipulating me. Why should I care about what you are saying at all, Gwen? You are no one to me!"

"What's your alternative, Kyra?" Gwen shouted back. "Are you going to kill alongside the hunters? You hate death, you always have and now it's physically painful for you to be near it. How are you going to survive on your own? I guarantee you won't last a week before something comes along that's a lot worse than you think I am. I did what I had to do. I won't apologize. When the only choices you have are shitty, you still have to choose, and I will always choose what will protect you." Her eyes shined that gorgeous red color and she held her ground.

"I'm staying with James," I told her. Gwen stepped closer to me, her eyes softening.

"No matter the connection the two of you have, he will abandon you once he sees the truth of what you are," Gwen said gently.

"How could he know what I am when I can't even figure it out?"

"Because I'm not hiding it from him. He'll figure it out sooner or later," Gwen shrugged, taking a step back from me.

"Please, just tell me everything. All of it. How much worse can it be than what you've already told me?" I pleaded.

Gwen shook her head and my heart sunk.

"You're not ready to come with me yet. If you need me, I'll be there." With that, she disappeared.

I didn’t know what to do so I just screamed out at nothing until my throat was sore. It was still raining, and I was still cold, but I sat down and started crying out of frustration instead of walking back to the hospital. Why had I though talking to her would make a difference? I stood up and paused, should I even go back? Elijah had tried to kill me, and would James be angry at me for even interacting with Gwen? Fuck it, where else would I go?

As I walked in the general direction Gwen had pointed, I tried to digest everything she said, and everything I felt. I was so angry at her but the memory of her emotions towards me were still fresh. I didn’t want to know; I didn’t want those pieces of her still floating around in my mind. I would rather be blissfully ignorant and feel self-righteous in my anger than have that knowledge affecting me. I just wanted to be sure my thoughts were my own and not there because of her. At least it had stopped raining.

“Kyra!” I heard James shouting in the distance. I guess I wasn’t really that hard to find. I sighed and followed the sound of his voice.

“I’m here,” I called out unenthusiastically when I saw him. He rushed over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. My skin buzzed but it didn’t really hurt so I didn’t bother to shake him off.

“Are you alright? Did she hurt you?” James asked, looking for any obvious wounds.

I shook my head. “I’m okay.”

“You’re soaked. I followed the storm and figured you’d be at its center but then I heard screaming,” James explained as he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. His hair was wet, dripping water down his forehead and past his brilliantly blue eyes.

“That was me… I was upset. Thanks for the jacket,” I said, a little surprised.

“Where did she go?” He asked, the gentleness vanishing from his face.

“I don’t know. She left when I got mad,” I murmured.

“What did she say?” He asked, insistently.

Her words echoed in my mind; _he’ll abandon you once he knows the truth._

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said firmly.

James opened his mouth to speak but closed it and nodded instead.

I was grateful for his silence. After my outburst with Gwen, I was too tired to think and definitely too tired to talk. I just wanted to go home but I didn’t have one anymore. Not with my family, not with Katherine, not even by myself. Once we reached the hospital, I slipped off the jacket and handed it back to James, locking myself in my room before her could say anything.

The following two days were quiet. I came out of my room only to eat. Xavier tried to talk to me during meals, but I was too emotionally and physically drained to have any sort of conversation. None of the other hunters approached me and I didn’t even see Elijah, so I assumed Xavier and James had talked to him. When I wasn’t eating, I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, counting the cracks in the walls. It was all I could do to focus on the steady rise and fall of my chest, the quiet beating of my heart, the creaks on the stairs from people moving about. I was so careful to avoid thoughts of blood, of death. Careful to avoid thoughts of home, of Katherine, of my past, of Gwen. I refused to let myself sleep, terrified of what I would see. All I wanted was the quiet nothingness that came with being all alone. On the third night, I was too tired to keep my eyes open and I fell asleep on top of my blankets.

\----

It was cold, and hard to see through the heavy snowfall, but that didn’t shake my focus. My feet crunched over the piles of white powder as I made my way towards the men. The hem of my light green dressed was soaked and partially frozen. That didn’t bother me either. A soft light was now visible in front of me. As I approached, I could make out a group of five men huddled around a campfire, small fur tents near them. My eyes shown red through the snow fall. I was close enough now that they would soon notice my presence.

“Hey, what are you doing so far from home?” One called, alerting the others. They turned towards me and grinned, beginning to approach me.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” One asked once he was foolishly within arm’s reach.

“Nothing,” I replied lunging for his face and clawing out his own eyes. He screamed and I smiled before ripping out his trachea and dropping it at his feet. Blood spurted from the wound in his neck as his choked. I was surely covered in crimson now, but it only made me smile more. The other men drew their swords but with a small gesture of my hand, the steel melted onto them. They howled, dropping to the ground and frantically covering themselves in snow to ease the pain of their burning skin.

I stalked closer and grabbed the face of one of the men who had killed her.

“She was innocent and kind. All she ever did was heal others. And you burned her alive until there was nothing left,” I hissed. The man only continued to cry, tears streaming down his face. Mumbled pleas for mercy.

I took a couple steps back. “Now you can all enjoy the same fate.” I jerked my hand and caused their clothing to erupt into a flame that the snow could not smother. They screamed louder until they were choking on the smoke caused by their burning bodies. I allowed my energy to fuel their lifeforces so they could live longer, suffer more than she had. It was what they deserved. After a moment, I finally relinquished my grasp on their souls and allowed them to die. Only when there was nothing left but ash, did I allow myself to cry for her.

\----


	17. Cold Fire

I woke up screaming and coughing as I inhaled thick cool smoke. Dazed, I tried to find what was burning and quickly discovered the source. My mattress was smoking softly, blue glowing sparks visible though the blankets. Everywhere I wasn’t touching was charred. The sound of pounding on the door startled me and I clumsily rolled off the bed.

“Kyra! Open the door!” James shouted, his fists shaking the fragile frame of the door. I twisted the knob and let him in.

“I don’t know what happened,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. He took in the sight of the well toasted bed and opened the window to allow the smoke to clear.

“It’s alright,” James said softly, looking into my barely glowing blue eyes. “Are you hurt?” He asked, his hands fluttering over my arms, careful not to touch me in case I was injured. I shook my head, glancing at the bed. It was no longer smoking, and the azure sparks had disappeared.

James reached towards the bed, reaching out to touch it. “It’s cold now,” he stated, sounding surprised. I shrugged, reaching and rubbing my hand over my face, trying to clear away the vivid nightmare. But I could still smell the burning flesh. I could still feel the gut-wrenching sorrow. I didn’t notice the tear slipping down my cheek, but James did.

“You had a nightmare,” he stated.

I nodded.

“I know you’ve been dealing with some stuff and I know that we are practically strangers, but you can talk to me. If you want to,” he said carefully.

“I don’t want to think about it anymore than I have to,” I said quietly.

He nodded again and I stifled a yawn. A few hours of terror filled sleep didn’t make up for days of being awake.

“How much have you actually slept since the daemon came?” James asked, catching onto the purple circles under my eyes.

I shrugged, not wanting to answer.

“You need sleep,” James said firmly. I avoided his gaze, still staring at the bed as I remembered the still breathing, burning bodies of the men in my dream.

“Okay, how about you shower so you don’t smell like smoke and I’ll bring you some clean clothes. You can sleep in my room, I’ll stay on the chair and make sure nothing else catches fire,” he said with a small smile.

I opened my mouth to argue but he stopped me. “You need to sleep, Kyra.”

“So do you, I don’t want to kick you off your bed.”

“I sleep fine in a chair, years of practice,” he said, giving me a small grin.

“Fine,” I agreed reluctantly, too tired to argue, before heading towards the bathroom. I peeled off my clothes, stepped into the shower, and aggressively scrubbed the smoke off my skin until it was pink. When I opened the curtains, I saw a small pile of clothes James had left for me. I pulled on the large black t-shirt and soft, red plaid sweatpants before exiting the bathroom and following him to his room. They were several sizes too large and smelled like him: warm earthy scents combined with something borderline floral. I curled up on the firm mattress and faced the window as James sat in the green armchair in the corner. I kept my eyes open even though my lids were heavy. Anytime I closed them, all I saw was red. James’ steady breathing eventually lulled me into sleep.

\----

Warm arms wrapped around me. “I will always keep you safe,” Gwen whispered into my ear. I should have been afraid of her or angry at the very least, but her presence was oddly comforting.

“Who was she? The woman you lost,” I asked, realizing that my earlier dream had once again been one of her memories.

“It was a long time ago; I was young and foolish. I will not repeat the mistakes of my past,” she said.

I turned, burying my face in her neck, trying to hide from the world and her grip tightened reassuringly. Her skin was soft, and she smelt like vanilla and heat. Gwen’s fingers rubbed gentle circles along my spine.

“You can rest now, love. Sleep, you need it,” she murmured.

Gwen’s smell changed to something woodsy, the faint smell of smoke still present. I opened my eyes and realized it was no longer Gwen but James whose arms were wrapped carefully around me.

“James, what are you doing here?” I asked, confused.

“Keeping an eye on the monster,” he said plainly, arms tightening painfully around me.

“What monster?” I asked, squirming out of his grasp.

“You, obviously. Why do you think your eyes glow like theirs’ do?” He smirked at me, squeezing even tighter. I winced; I couldn’t breathe. I needed to get away.

“Don’t worry, _love_ ,” he emphasized the word angrily. “I’ll keep you safe _._ ”

\----

I woke up slowly, feeling paralyzed, as if arms were still tightening around me. The sun was barely rising, and James was still sleeping in the corner. His words were still fresh in my mind. Was I a monster to him? Why did my eyes glow? Who else’s eyes shined unnaturally like mine did? Oh, of course. It should have been obvious. Gwen.

It had never occurred to me before, the possibility that I was like her. Why would it? As far as I knew, daemons were a handful of ancient beings, not known for popping up randomly after being struck by lightning. But I guess I didn’t know very much about any of this. Gwen had always said I was different and Xavier and the other witch I had encountered didn’t seem to recognize my magic or were shocked by it. The glowing eyes, that should’ve given it away. Why wasn’t it obvious to me before? Maybe I had been in denial. James hated daemons and, as far as I knew, he had good reason to. Gwen didn’t seem like pure evil to me, but I didn’t know her well either. James would hate me if he realized the truth-when he realized the truth. It was only a matter of time. If my idea was right, then would he try to kill me like any other monster? Was I inherently something bad? Could other creatures even be inherently evil? What was I –

“I can see you freaking out over there, are you okay?” James asked, breaking me out of my panic driven thoughts. I briefly considered lying but I didn’t think I would be able to fool him at the moment.

“Bad dreams,” I said simply. It was true enough, not technically a lie, not technically the truth. Enough to make sure he only asked questions I could answer.

“You should talk with Xavier and see if there is any magic stuff that could help with that,” James said.

“That… would probably be a good idea,” I answered, sitting up straighter.

“I was thinking… we should probably get moving again. I think it would be good for us all to have something to do. There might be a vampire in Oregon that needs dealing with,” James suggested.

“By we…?” I asked.

“I mean you, me, and X,” James confirmed.

I nodded. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as you’re ready to go,” James answered.

“I’m gonna go get my things,” I said, getting up and heading to my room.

“I’ll meet you at the truck,” James said.

I closed the door quietly behind me. I wanted to sink to the floor and cry but that wouldn’t do me any good right now. I needed to think, to create some sort of game plan. I was not a monster. I refused to be. James and Xavier would see that. Maybe if I fought by their side long enough, when they figured out the truth, they wouldn’t try to get rid of me. Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind and stuffed what little belongings I had into my- Gwen’s- duffel bag before changing into a pair of jeans and an old red t-shirt. I glanced out my window, James and Xavier were having a discussion by the truck. Convincing myself that everything would turn out alright, I opened my door and came face to face with Elijah.

I gulped. “Excuse me, I’m just heading out.” I tried to squeeze past him, but he took up too much space in the doorway.

“You’re a monster, you know that right?” He asked rhetorically. “Witches can be just as bad as weres and blood suckers. You aren’t helping anyone.” His eyes were filled with loathing and this time I shoved past him. Elijah grabbed my wrist.

“When you mess up, they’ll realize that and they’ll put a bullet in your head and burn you to ash,” he hissed, squeezing my wrist painfully. I glared at him and suddenly he yanked his hand off my skin.

“Son of a bitch,” he yelled, shaking his bright red hand to cool the burned skin. I took the opportunity to run down the stairs and to the safety of James and Xavier’s company.

“You ready?” Xavier asked.

“Let’s go,” I nodded.

As we drove away, I caught a glimpse of Elijah staring out the window at me.

The sun was still rising as we drove south, heading away from the hospital and towards a supposed vampire hunt. Fresh air filled the cabin of the truck as we rolled the windows down.

“James told me you had nightmares last night,” Xavier said, disturbing the silence.

“X, I didn’t tell you that so you could bring it up now,” James sighed.

“It’s good to talk about these things,” Xavier insisted. “What were they about?”

“You don’t have to answer that,” James cut in.

“It’s okay. I don’t really remember anyway,” I lied. The dream was still very fresh in my mind, maybe not as much as it had been last night but still enough that I didn’t want to talk about it. James glanced at me quickly, sensing my lie. Damn magic, I would have to be more careful with my words.

“Really? Because you still seem pretty shaken up,” Xavier said, catching James’ eye.

“Xavier, she doesn’t have to tell you if she doesn’t want to. It’s none of your business,” James defended me. I glanced at him, surprised he was taking my side still.

“Okay, okay. I’ll leave your girlfriend alone,” Xavier smirked.

“I’m not his-“ “She’s not my girlfriend!” James and I snapped at the same time. My cheeks turned red; I couldn’t help it.

“Fine, fine. She did sleep in your room last night though,” Xavier teased.

“Because she set her bed on fire and needed sleep,” James insisted, his cheeks starting to turn visibly pink underneath the scruff.

“Okay, whatever you say,” Xavier snickered.

“So, how do we kill a vampire?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Remove the head or heart. Garlic is a myth, crosses are a myth, sunlight is sort of true. The older they are, the more likely they are to burn fast but mostly they are just really sensitive to it. A stake through the heart is partially true. Wood splinters and is harder for them to heal- they heal fast by the way, faster with human blood. If the stake is big enough and placed right, if you get lucky and it destroys the heart, then they are dead, but you still want to decapitate them and burn the body. Mainly go for the head,” James explained quickly, eager to change the subject.

“Okay, go for the head, sunlight’s bad. Are they stronger, like the wolves were?” I asked.

“They are stronger than humans but that comes from blood, the more they drink- the stronger they are. They’re fast too, not superhumanly, blur sort of fast, but very agile. They’ll surprise you if you’re not careful. Their senses are stronger too, so we need to be silent in our approach. Vamps are generally easier kills though. We hit them during the day when they are sleeping. Most of the human blood crazy ones we’ve encountered are alone or in pairs. This should be an easy in and out once we discover where it’s sleeping,” James said, eyes focused on the road.

“How do you figure out where they are?” I asked.

“We made a map of the suspicious possibly vampire related deaths and then I use magic to look for supernatural creatures in that area,” Xavier said.

“How do you know when you’ve found the right one?”

“If it’s a bloodsucker in the area of our map, it’s better safe than sorry. We take out any we find but it’s usually only one or two,” Xavier shrugged.

That unnerved me but I didn’t say anything. The whole point of going hunting with them was to prove I wasn’t a danger to them. I couldn’t question their methods, how they couldn’t be sure they were killing the right person. How they didn’t even seem to refer to them as people at all but things. I needed to trust that they knew what they were doing and that following their plan would help people. Still, it didn’t sit right with me when we pulled up to the run-down concrete warehouse that Xavier’s magic had pinpointed as the home of one supernatural creature.

James handed me a machete and told me to stay behind them, just in case. The sun was high, in was around noon and all I could feel was apprehension at what they were about to do. I followed them into the building, the second I touched the door, I felt a light shock.

\----

The sky was dark, and the only visible light were the dull streetlamps scattered across the neighborhood. I walked towards my car quickly, I could hear the footsteps behind me. I didn’t make it in time before a thin knife was jabbed into my neck once and then again near the first would. Blood spurted from my skin and I was getting dizzy. Collapsing to the ground, I saw a man covered in my blood, holding a knife, smiling softly.

His face flashed before my eyes. The same smile but different clothes, different settings, a different sky, different blood splatters but still the same knife and the same gruesome grin.

\----

My vision cleared and my eyes focused on the room I was in. The vision had to mean something, and I was willing to bet it had to do with the vampire we were hunting. Whoever had killed the woman whose eyes I saw through had done it with a knife and hadn’t drunk any of her blood, at least not that I saw. Something was off and my adrenaline was increasing.

I closed the door quietly behind me and followed James and Xavier to a cot in the far corner. It was almost pitch black, the only light in the room from the flashlight Xavier had brought in. We approached the sleeping figure on the bed and I immediately knew he was not the person from my dream; he was not the killer.

Reaching out my hand, I tapped James’ shoulder. He turned and shook his head at me, gesturing for me to stay quiet.

“It’s not him,” I whispered, as quiet as I could manage but it wasn’t quiet enough. The man’s eyes shot open, reflecting the soft light of the flashlight. They were full of fear. I immediately pushed between him and James, holding out my hands.

“He’s not the killer. I had a vision, and someone is using a knife to make it look like two tooth marks. He’s innocent!” I told them. Xavier hesitated, but James looked upset.

“All the evidence leads to him; one vision isn’t enough to prove he hasn’t killed anyone!” James yelled. “Get out of the way!”

The vampire behind me quickly bridged the space between us and wrapped his right arm around my neck from behind me, applying enough pressure to warn me against moving without actively hurting me. I put my hands in the air, slowly. He was using me as a shield to make them keep their distance.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I know you didn’t kill that woman and I don’t think you killed the others,” I told him softly.

“Get out of here and I’ll let her go at sundown,” the vampire hissed, his voice echoing through the room.

“Let her go now, you’re dead either way,” James said.

“He didn’t do it, James! I think it was a human from what I saw. We don’t need to kill him,” I said again.

“I don’t kill humans,” the vampire said firmly. “I feed mostly on animals.”

“James, can you tell if he’s telling the truth?” I asked.

“He said mostly, that means he’s probably hurt humans. It’s an easy way to avoid a lie. He’s dangerous, right now he could kill you easily. If he was innocent, he wouldn’t have grabbed you!” Xavier yelled, answering for James.

I could feel the vampire’s heart pounding behind me. It was surprising that his heart could beat, but I knew he was afraid. They weren’t listening to me. Why weren’t they listening to me?

“I’m sorry,” the vampire whispered in my ear before clamping his sharp fangs onto my neck. It hurt, not as much as I expected it to, but the feeling of my blood being pulled from me was the worst. He quickly let me go and stepped back, falling to his knees.

“You’re a daemon? I’m so sorry, your majesty, I didn’t know. Please forgive me, I would not have bitten you otherwise. I just wanted to be strong enough to run away. Forgive me,” He pleaded with me, face on the ground. I stumbled backwards in shock, grasping at my neck which was still lightly gushing blood. I didn’t have time to react before James swung his machete and decapitated him.


	18. Don't worry about the consequences, you'll outlive them

“You killed him, even though I told you he didn’t do it….” My voice was weak, and I was lightheaded from blood loss.

“What the fuck did he mean when he called you a daemon?” James hissed at me.

“I’m not sure,” I mumbled, eyes fixated on the disembodied head on the ground.

“You’re lying! What did he mean, Kyra?!” James yelled.

“I wasn’t sure. It was a hunch. My eyes glow like Gwen’s and everyone keeps saying my magic is different. I wanted to prove I wasn’t like them and help you… but you just killed him. You didn’t even consider that he was innocent,” I was disoriented. Black bubbles were filling my vision as warm blood continued to slip though my fingers pressed against my neck.

“You’re one of them! How long have you known? Have you been fucking with us the whole time?” James yelled.

“Jamie, I don’t think she knew-“ Xavier tried to calm him down.

“You’re a fucking monster, worse than what I just killed.” James took a step towards me as I sunk to the ground. His machete was still in his hand, dripping blood onto the concrete floor.

“I’m not a monster,” I whispered, trying to keep my eyes open. Ringing filled my ears and the sounds around me were almost too muffled to understand.

James took another step towards me, his grip tightening around the handle of his weapon. “Yeah, you are.” His green eyes were narrow and full of hatred.

I was about to pass out. Slumping over onto the ground, I called for help in the only form I could think of. “Gwen, please help me.” Then everything went black.

I was floating in a dreamless sleep for a while. Without the concept of time and without pain. When I started to wake up, I was aware of the dull throbbing in my neck and an uncomfortable lightheadedness. My lids refused to open for a few moments, but I could smell flowers and feel soft sheets on my skin. I was suddenly aware that I was only wearing an oversized t-shirt which I had definitely not been wearing before. I cracked my eyes open, fighting the exhaustion.

“Good! You’re awake. How do you feel?” Gwen’s red hair was the first thing that focused clearly in my field of vision and then her vibrant crimson eyes.

“Like I got my neck sliced into and was bled out,” I mumbled groggily. The room I was in was well lit with the soft light from the setting sun. It was a hotel room, I thought, an expensive looking one with a huge TV, a kitchenet, 3 golden couches, and the large king-sized bed I was in. Gwen was standing a couple feet from the bed, eyeing me cautiously. She was wearing a snug, bright red, long sleeved crop top and cutoff blue jeans.

“You lost a lot of blood and I couldn’t do anything more than clean you up and stitch your neck closed while you were sleeping. I overdid it a bit with the teleporting. You should heal soon enough,” Gwen explained.

I nodded then immediately regretted the motion.

“How did I get here?” I asked.

“I came when you called, like I promised. I was just outside the warehouse when I heard you. I jumped us out of the building and then carried you to my car. It tired me out a bit more than I was expecting, to be completely honest,” she answered, turning around and picking up a glass of water. “Sit up carefully and drink this- slowly.” She handed it to me and watched carefully as I sipped it.

“What happened after I passed out? With James?” I asked quietly.

“He’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking. I only left him alive because I knew it would upset you if I killed him. The look on his face when I showed up was enough revenge for now,” Gwen smirked to herself. Then she glanced at my face and apologized. “I’m sorry, for what he said and for how this turned out. I was trying to keep you in the dark as long as possible to keep you safe, but I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“How do I exist? How am I a- what I am?” I asked.

“I don’t really know. There are only 6 daemons in the world, and we’ve all been around for a thousand plus years. I’m over 1700 years old, give or take. No new daemons have showed up for almost a thousand years. When I first started watching you, I just thought you were a unique witch but when you were struck by lightning, I knew you were like me. I kept you hidden from the others because I didn’t want them to either try to use you or kill you,” Gwen explained.

“What do you want with me?” I asked warily, handing her back my now empty glass.

“I-… I care about you,” Gwen confessed. “I don’t have any vendettas I want to use your help for, and I don’t have a lust for power like some of the others. I just want you to be safe.”

I was surprised. I didn’t know what I expected her answer to be but that had been honest and vulnerable.

“Thank you, for saving me,” I said, realizing I hadn’t said it yet.

“You’re welcome,” Gwen smiled.

“Um, do you have anything else I can wear?”

“Here,” Gwen said, handing me a pair of sweatpants.

“Can you turn around?” I asked after a second. She sighed and turned around.

“Let me know if you need help,” she instructed over her shoulder.

I pulled the covers off me and carefully slipped on the sweatpants while still lying down. It was difficult and a little bit painful, but I managed myself.

“Okay,” I said. She turned back around. “I’m going to go use the bathroom,” I told her, sliding my legs off the bed and standing. Blood rushed to my head and my vision blurred. Gwen caught me before I fell, her deceptively strong arms holding me up.

“I’ll help you walk there, okay?” Gwen said, trying not to smirk. I tried to take a step and damn near collapsed again. Gwen sighed and swept my legs out from underneath me and carrying me bridal style to the bathroom. She set my feet down on the cold tile floor and waited until I was steady to exit. “Call for me if you start falling again.”

I closed the door and used the restroom before looking in the mirror and examining my neck. The bandage was clean and taped over what I assumed were two puncture marks. My skin was still pale, and my eyes had bruises underneath my eyes from lack of rest. My hair was surprisingly clean and tied in a bun on top of my head. There were no traces of blood anywhere on me.

Opening the door, I called to Gwen. “Could you help me back? If that’s okay?” I asked uncertainly.

“Of course,” Gwen said, coming quickly and sweeping me off my feet again. She gently set me back on the bed and tucked the blankets around me.

“Did you wash my hair while I was out?” I questioned after I was sat down. I wasn’t accusatory, in fact I was kind of grateful- though still mildly embarrassed- that she had taken care of me so well.

“I cleaned up what I could and magicked away the rest,” Gwen assured me. “I did change your clothes though. You were covered in blood.”

“That is … understandable. Thanks again,” I said, slightly weirded out that she had seen me naked. I did my best to shrug it off, though.

“Now that you are awake, is it okay if I try to heal you now?” She asked, waiting for my permission to touch me again.

“Um yeah, sure. Aren’t you too drained, still?” I was a bit awkward but doing my best to trust her given the situation.

“A bit, but now that you are conscious, I think I can work with some of your magic.”

Gwen gently removed the bandage, and a cool, red mist came up from my neck to me her hands, both colliding to wrap around my neck. I felt the stitches dissolve and then the torn skin start to net itself back together. It felt odd, tingly, but not painful. In fact, my head felt clearer and lighter than it had since I first chose to use my own magic. After a moment, she removed her hands a smiled at me.

“The wounds are sealed. You still are going to be lightheaded for probably a few more hours because of your blood loss but your accelerated healing should fix that soon. I closed those so they couldn’t tear open again. I’ve found that it is best to let our bodies heal themselves as much as they can on their own instead of being reliant on healing magic,” she informed me, reaching to touch my hand and then pulling back.

“Good to know,” I said. My stomach chose that moment to growl loudly and I blushed lightly. “Sorry, I guess I haven’t eaten since early this morning.”

“You’re all good, hon- Kyra. I’ve had some food waiting in the oven for when you woke up.”

She stopped herself before she could call me honey, but it seemed natural to her. I didn’t understand why I felt so safe with her. Why I trusted her to save me or heal me or why I let her carry me. I was instinctually drawn to her now that I had gotten over my fear and distrust. Maybe that was a good thing. She seemed to really care about me and if what she said was true about the other daemons being dangerous, it would be good to have her on my side.

Gwen had gotten me a whole bunch of carbs. She had definitely paid attention while she had been stalking me over the past few years. Spaghetti and meatballs, a ton a garlic bread, some watermelon (don’t judge me, I love watermelon), and light blue flavored Gatorade (I never remember the actual names, anyone who does is a cop). It wasn’t the weirdest meal I had ever eaten- I had eaten some weird combinations in college. I was so hungry that I ate everything put on my plate. It was great, bringing me back to times with friends where I had been in charge of cooking dinner. Growing up, my family had made homemade tomato sauce and meatballs on a regular basis and it had always been one of the things I was actually good at cooking.

After eating, Gwen convinced me to try and get some more rest while she sat reading on the couch. I couldn’t sleep, though. My mind was too awake. I was confused and afraid to be completely honest. Apparently, I was some super powerful, immortal being but my family didn’t remember me, for all intents and purposes, I didn’t even exist. The two people I had started to call my friends probably hated me at the very least and the worst-case scenario was that they were plotting my death. What was I going to do? I couldn’t get a job because I didn’t have any legal documents. I couldn’t finish veterinary school for the same reason. I wasn’t going to age so I could never get married and have a relationship where I grow old with someone I love. Could I even have children? If I did would they be immortal like me or would I have to live to watch them age and die? I had no money- what I had stolen from Gwen was still with James and Xavier. No clothes, no personal possessions, nowhere to live. The only person who seemed to be on my side was Gwen who- though I was starting to trust that she really did care about me- had done some things I couldn’t agree with and had separated me from my family. Keeping me away from them made more sense the more I thought about it, but she had taken the choice from me. Did she really care about me? Was it platonic or did she have romantic feelings for me? How would a relationship with her even work? She was 1700 years older than me. That was a hell of an age gap. Would I have to rely on her to take care of me? I could barely stand the thought of spending another week like this but to spend eternity watching everything around me die sounded awful. If I did have a relationship with another immortal, how could we last for eternity?

“When I told you to rest, overthinking was not what I had in mind,” Gwen said dryly, not looking up from her phone.

“Could you hear my thoughts?” I asked nervously.

“No but I could hear your breathing and I know you. You overthink everything. Have you been stressing out the whole last hour?” She asked me, setting her phone down and making eye contact. Her eyes were actually really pretty, even though I had originally found the crimson color disconcerting.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I answered.

“Everything will work out the way it was meant to. You’ll be okay. Just take it one day at a time,” Gwen reassured me.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep anytime soon,” I said. It was only 10 in the evening anyway. I stayed up much later than this regularly pre-lightning strike.

“Do you feel up to sight-seeing?” Gwen asked with a smile.

“Uh, sure. I don’t feel dizzy anymore,” I replied, standing up. “I don’t have anything to wear though.”

“Oh, ye of little faith. What’s mine is yours. I’ve had stuff for you stocked up since you I realized what you were.”

“Thanks,” I said, blushing lightly.

Gwen went to one of the closets and pulled out a strappy, sky blue, knee length summer dress and black converse. “I know you are opposed to sandals and I don’t think you should be walking in heels just yet.”

I grabbed the small bundle of clothing and changed quickly in the bathroom. I removed the scrunchy from my long, waist length brown hair and let my curls fall free. Having my hair up too long was giving me a headache. I would have to cut it soon. Pulling on the dress made me realize I hadn’t shaved my legs since pre coma. Ug. I did not have the energy to do that.

“Gwen, do you have anything longer?” I asked, hesitantly from behind the door.

“Mmm, I think so, but you would probably overheat. Why do you ask?”

“I haven’t shaved my legs since precoma,” I admitted.

“Babe, hair removal for women is a trend that will soon be out of style. It’s only become popular in the last few decades. You can change if you want, but fuck anyone who says you should shave,” Gwen said passionately.

I had always been too much of a coward to stop shaving even though I hated it. It took way too much time and was pointless. Fuck it. I’ll embrace it.

“How do I look?” I asked, stepping out of the bathroom and giving a small twirl.

Gwen smiled softly. “Absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, you have some great calves.”

I blushed again, maybe I should try to prevent any attempts at flirting. No matter how attractive Gwen was, I needed to figure out how to deal with myself before starting anything new. I had rushed in quickly with Katherine and I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Plus, right now I was a fucking mess who couldn’t stop seeing dead bodies when I closed my eyes. No one deserved having to put up with me right now.

“Kyra, you need to stop overthinking. You are young, you’re a good person, and you are powerful as hell with eternity in front of you. Don’t worry about the consequences of your actions, you’ll outlive them anyway,” Gwen said, as if she had read my mind.

“You sure you can’t read my mind?” I asked.

“I could if I really wanted to, but you would feel it. I’m just could at reading you facial expressions and body language,” Gwen smirked.

Maybe she was right. I had spent my whole life overthinking the smallest of details and it only stressed me out. Seriously, why would I ever freak out about leg hair when there were so many other things to worry about? Maybe I should let loose a little bit and finally enjoy myself, consequences be damned. What’s the worst that could happen? _In retrospect, that was a terrible question to ask of the universe._


	19. Blood Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: homophobia, blood

“Shall we?” Gwen asked, holding out her tan, carefully manicured hand towards me.

“Let’s go,” I nodded, carefully taking her hand in mine. The tiniest bit of electricity snapped between us when our palms met. It almost reminded me of when I touched James, but I shook off that thought quickly. I didn’t want to think about him and the look of pure hatred that had been on his face when he realized the truth. I just wanted to have some fun and forget all the bad things that happened. Even if it was only for a little while.

Gwen and I went for a walk down the fairly busy street since it was summer. There were people everywhere which made me a little uncomfortable- again, not because of what they would think of me but because I was mildly aware of the hums of each of their minds. On their own, it wouldn’t be too much, but it was fairly loud and distracting all together. Keeping a hold on Gwen’s hand seemed to quiet them, however, so I was okay to continue to the local bar. I was surprised at her choice of activity for the night, but she reassured me once again.

“How about we start over? You and me just talking like we’ve never met before. No pressure, no hunters, no visions, no magic to worry about. Alright?” she asked over the noise of the bar.

“That actually sounds really nice,” I answered, sitting down next to her on a couple stools by the window.

“What would you like to drink?” Gwen questioned.

“Something nonalcoholic,” I replied, not wanting to deal with any dizziness or a hangover in the morning. 

“This place has really good milkshakes,” she suggested, handing me a little paper menu.

“A small Oreo milkshake would be good,” I said after a moment.

“Large Oreo milkshake it is,” Gwen smirked, getting up to order our drinks. She came back with a beer- gross, I had never liked beer or anything where I could taste the alcohol- and my giant milkshake.

“Out of all your choices, you got a beer?” I teased.

“After a few centuries, it starts tasting pretty good, though it has changed a lot,” she smiled.

I shook my head and stuck out my tongue, making an exaggerated face of disgust before drinking some of my shake.

“What’s your favorite color?” I asked, classic Kyra first date questions. Start with the favorite color and then eventually move on to childhood traumas- all queer people had some kind.

“Blue like the ocean or like your eyes,” she answered immediately. “What’s yours?”

“I’m shocked! You don’t already know?” I said sarcastically.

“Oh, I do, I just told you we were starting over tonight, so I didn’t plan on bringing that up,” she grinned.

“It used to be crimson, like blood, but I’ve seen too much of it recently to be a fan. I think right now it’s green, deep evergreen,” I answered thoughtfully.

“See, I didn’t know that,” Gwen said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Who is your favorite superhero?” I asked.

“Still a nerd, I see.”

“It’s technically a geeky thing to like but yes to both.”

“Hmm, I would say Poison Ivy but she’s more of an antihero. I’ll have to go with Captain Marvel.”

“How is Poison Ivy a hero? She’s always fighting Batman or teaming up with other villains.”

“What she really wants is to protect her plants. Humans just tend to get in the way of that. She’s misunderstood,” Gwen explained.

“Okay, if you say so. I agree with Captain Marvel, though. Queer icon! I had a huge crush on the actress who played her for the longest time,” I agreed.

“My turn to ask a question. Top or bottom?” Gwen asked suddenly. I damn near choked on my drink.

“What?” I asked in between coughs.

“On a bunk bed, top or bottom bunk?” she smirked, winking at me.

“Are you making outdated meme references on purpose or just trying to make me blush?” I asked.

“Both, pretty much always both.”

“Haha, very funny. How are you even so caught up on pop culture? You’re ancient!”

“I take an interest in how culture changes.” She shrugged. “Who was your first kiss?” She asked, more seriously.

“A girl in high school senior year. Her named was Izzy… something. She had dated a bunch of people already and was super confident and she was actually the first person I dated. She kissed me on the second date while we were watching movies in her living room. I almost head butted her- on accident of course- and we didn’t end up going on a third date. What about you?”

“My first kiss was a boy, I forget his name, it was a long time ago. Our parents wanted us to get married. When I kissed him, I realized I wished I was kissing my best friend (a girl) instead and that was when I realized I was a lesbian, though I didn’t know what it was called back then. I thought there was something wrong with me.”

“Damn, I can’t imagine being queer hundreds of years ago. How did you deal with it?” I asked her, truly curious.

“Well, before I realized I was more than a witch, I kept it secret. I didn’t show affection in public, I was very careful. After though, I knew no one could hurt me so I did what I wanted with who I wanted,” She answered, taking another sip of her drink.

“Have you ever been married?” I asked before thinking.

“A few times. Mostly for political power or influence. Once to someone I really loved.” Her eyes looked sad.

“Was that the woman I dreamt about? The one you avenged?” I said quietly, placing my hand on hers comfortingly.

“I thought I felt you in my mind the other night. Yes, she was killed by witch hunters when I wasn’t there,” Gwen said with a grimace.

“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up,” I apologized, pulling back my hand. She grabbed it before I could retract fully.

“No, I’m glad you did. I don’t want you afraid to ask me questions. I know what you saw looked frightening, but it was necessary. I’m not a bad person, I don’t hurt humans without reason,” she said, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

“I believe you,” I said. And I did. To an outsider, it would be terrifying to see the acts of violence she had committed but if you understood the context, you could see that those she had killed (the ones I witnessed at least) had been murderers.

“Who is your favorite singer?” Gwen asked, changing the subject.

“Easy, Taylor Swift. She is smart as hell and super tall. I love tall girls!” I said enthusiastically.

“Really? Still with Taylor Swift? You’re 24, are you ever going to get over her?” Gwen teased.

“Nope,” I said, popping the p. “She was my first girl crush, those last forever.”

“You’re adorable,” she smirked.

“Hey, she writes her own songs, can play multiple instruments, is a boss at business and marketing, and is one of the richest artists alive especially for her age. There’s nothing wrong with loving her,” I insisted.

“All she writes are love songs and she’s straight as a ruler, even someone as beautiful as you doesn’t stand a chance.”

“I can still dream,” I said, my cheeks flushing.

“I much prefer it when you dream about me. I’m plenty tall to catch your eye,” Gwen purred suddenly, crimson eyes trapping mine as she leaned in slightly. I mimicked the motion, leaning closer, acting on pure impulse but we were rudely interrupted.

“Can I buy you lovely ladies a drink?” A young man asked. He was probably about our-well my- age and he was wearing a blue and white polo shirt with kakis.

“No, thanks, we’re good,” I answered. What was my luck with guys in bars? I missed the days where I had short hair and a solid resting bitch face, I tended to get less male attention then. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in men romantically, I was, I just didn’t want to meet guys at a bar or any other random place. I preferred dating guys I was already friends with and knew personally.

“Oooh,” the man said exaggeratedly. “Are you two here, like together?”

“That’s not really your business,” I answered quickly. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and be polite, but he was annoying.

“Sorry, if I’d known you were dykes, I wouldn’t have wasted my time,” he huffed, glancing up and down at me.

“We didn’t ask you to come over here. Why don’t you go sit back down with your friends and stop bothering women? That way you won’t ‘waste your time’,” I replied. It wasn’t the first time someone had called me that word and it probably wouldn’t be the last. I usually would have ignored it or gotten up and left but Gwen’s reassuring pressure on my hand gave me the confidence to react how I had always wanted. Plus, I knew if he turned out to be some psycho, neither of us were anything close to helpless. Not anymore.

“Oh, fuck off. Your girlfriend here is barely wearing anything and neither are you. Don’t go out looking like that if you don’t want a man’s attention.”

“Well, we’ll be sure to keep that in mind for when we get a _real_ man’s attention,” I said evenly. Gwen covered a giggle with a cough and the guy’s face turned an angry red as he sputtered trying to think of something to say.

“You fucking whores!” he yelled, too loudly. He could certainly be heard over the music. Most guys don’t actually think this sort of thing happens, but some men do behave like this especially when they don’t get their way.

“Ah, more name calling, you really put us in our place. Do you feel better about being rejected now?” I said sarcastically. This was fun. Before magic, I had never been able to say what I really wanted to people like this out of fear of being attacked. I felt invincible, nothing could hurt me. If lightning, witch hunters, werewolves, and a vampire had failed to kill me, a toxically masculine college boy wouldn’t stand a chance.

The man stomped away, back to his table. Before he got the chance to sit down, an employee asked him to leave the bar. He looked like he was about to start screaming again. I smirked and finished my shake, grabbing Gwen’s hand to drown out the magical hum of everyone’s minds as we headed to the door.

“Did that feel good? It sure looked like you were having fun,” Gwen asked, smiling as we walked back to the hotel.

“It was friggin’ awesome! Do you know how many assholes I have had to deal with like him? How many stories I’ve heard from friends? And women don’t say anything ‘cause who knows if you’re talking to a rapist or a murderer, but I was finally able to say something without fear of the consequences. It was so freeing!” I gushed. I was on a bit of a sugar high and starting to bounce around with excitement.

“With enough practice, nothing will scare you ever again,” Gwen said, releasing my hand and wrapping her arm around my waist. I followed her action, carefully placing my arm on the other side of her waist, my hand touching her still cool, bare skin. She leaned over and kissed my forehead, then her face fell. “I’m sorry, I should have asked-“

“It’s okay, I’ll tell you if it’s not,” I said, reaching up to place a small kiss on her red lips. Her heels increased the height between us but that was alright. She looked surprised at my action and leaned down to give me a second peck. Kissing her wasn’t the smartest idea at the time, but I was a bit high on power and craving affection.

“Good,” she smiled brightly. We continued walking. “If I had known something as simple as sassing a drunk piece of trash would give you so much confidence, I would’ve taken you to a bar when we first met.”

I snickered. Maybe this daemon thing wouldn’t be so bad.

Things may have seemed better when I was awake, with Gwen, but my dreams were never peaceful. I was conflicted. Gwen had saved me, but so had James. Gwen had done terrible things for arguably the right reasons, but so had James. James hated what I was, and Gwen seemed to look down on anyone who wasn’t a daemon. They were two sides of the same coin. Gwen had never tried to kill me though. At least as far as I knew. But had James really either? He had yelled, I could’ve sworn I saw him swinging at me. Now I wasn’t so sure. Memories were twisting in my mind. The ones of James in that warehouse had a red tint around them. They felt off, his emotions seemed off, too strong. He was too angry. I couldn’t focus on that any longer, it almost hurt to remember. So, of course, I remembered something much more traumatic instead.

\----

It was a lovely clear night, the first time I felt carefree in so long. In fact, I felt great, as if gravity wasn’t affecting me. Looking back, I should’ve realized something was wrong, but I was too nauseatingly happy to care that this wasn’t normal for me. That night I had gotten in a fight with my parents, a friend- I thought- had accidently outed me to them, and they were upset. I had run out of the house and biked down to the beach. Once my feet hit the rocky shore though, I forgot the everything. I was bothered by it anymore. I had climbed onto the top of the small island that was just barely connected to the shore by large rocks. The top was covered by succulents that grew like grass. The air felt strangely cold for a summer Californian night. It was refreshing and almost electric.

I lied down and stared at the stars, enjoying the peace. The soft sound of waves relaxed me further. Soft footsteps drew my attention. I tilted my head backwards and saw Katherine standing behind me in a green tank top and shorts.

“Of course, you would come here, even though we aren’t together, it’s still your safe place, isn’t it, sunshine?” Katherine mused. I was slightly confused and still to zoned out to really say anything. She knelt down by me and brushed my short curly hair out of my face.

“Your eyes are such a beautiful blue, I wonder if you’ll keep the color,” she half whispered to herself. “I’m sorry about your parents, I figured the separation would be easier if you were angry at them before.”

“What do you mean?” I was jolted out of my state and now painfully aware of my surroundings.

“You’ve been different lately; I knew it was coming. Odds are it would happen on a solstice of some sort, they are powerful days for the fates. I knew for sure when I saw you today, felt the air around you.”

“What the fuck, Katherine? Why are you here? Have you been watching me?” I hissed, sitting up and pulling away from her.

“Longer than you’d think,” she replied. Her face was starting to blur red around the edges. Crimson eyes flashed back at me as she stood up and grew several inches taller, her hair changing to a shade to match her eyes. Katherine’s skin darkened and her face was distorted until it settled on something different, sharper features.

“What in the actual fuck?!” I stood up and tried to jump back but she grasped my hand strongly.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, I wanted it to be your choice, but I need to know your safe and I need to be able to guide you.” Katherine grabbed a knife from her back pocket and slid it across our joined hands, letting the blood pool and mix.

“Let go of me you fucking freak!” She wouldn’t let go. A painful heat trailed across my skin and it was suddenly very loud. Waves crashed violently against the cliffs, spraying us with salt-water. Thunder roared above. After a moment she let go. My skin burned and waves of sharp pain pulsed through me.

“What did you do?!” I screeched. Katherine didn’t have time to answer before everything went blindingly white.

The next thing I remembered was the cold metal of an examination table.

\----- 

My ex-girlfriend Katherine was Gwen- a daemon who had stalked and manipulated me, outed me to my parents, done some weird as blood magic, faked my death, and made them forget I existed. Well shit.


	20. Sometimes the only choices you have are bad, but you still have to choose

What do you do when you realize that your ex-girlfriend is a probably psychopathic, thousands of years old, super powerful daemon? I think, all things considered, I was handling this well. Deep breaths are important, sometimes people forget how to breathe under stress. Counting to ten also was supposed to help. My heartbeat had evened out since the thought had first come to mind, but it was still uncomfortably strong. 

I wasn't entirely sure what emotion I was supposed to be feeling right now, anger, betrayal, grief. All I felt were the physical symptoms of mild anxiety starting to fade and the blankets I was tucked under. Gwen had insisted on taking the couch when we got in that night and she seemed to still be sleeping soundly. I weighed my options.

Option 1: Leave, now. Not exactly appealing considering my terrible luck when it came to avoiding people and monsters which I was starting to think weren't all that different. I also had no money, no weapons, no place to go. I definitely wouldn't get far if Gwen wanted to find me, she was really good at that. No, option 1 would not work.

Option 2: Go back to James and convince him not to kill me. Not my favorite idea but plausible... maybe. No, that wouldn't work either. How would I get to him and I doubt I could convince him that I was the one good daemon.

Option 3: Stay with Gwen and act like everything is fine. Acting wasn't my best skill. I was a terrible liar, and this was something big.

Which left me with option 4: confront Gwen and see what she says. That was potentially dangerous, but it might be worth the risk.

What to do, what to do. I refused to run. Maybe Gwen would piss me off again and I could magically kick her ass; that always seemed to be a possibility these days. I sat up, I should probably go back to sleep, the sun was barely starting to rise but I was too wired for it. Even with my exhaustion, I couldn't bring myself to cry or yell or do anything except stare at the ceiling. Turning into a super magic monster, being betrayed by the love of your life, killing someone, and then getting attacked by my new 'friends' probably desensitized me to stressful situations. Honestly, I didn't feel like I was in immediate danger at the moment so I couldn't bring myself to really care. I was just so goddamn tired. Even in sleep, I couldn't rest. Nightmares followed me whenever I closed my eyes and I woke up to impossible situations like this. How was I supposed to deal with all this shit? Maybe I should just put myself out of my misery and-

I stopped the thought as soon as it started. Nope, not going down that rabbit hole again. I was stronger than that. Everything sucked but those thought processes would make me feel worse.

"You're awake," Gwen said, sitting up and looking at me.

"And you're a psychotic, manipulative bitch," I replied. Smooth, Kyra, very smooth. Oh well, no taking that back now.

"What do you mean, what happened?" Gwen stood up and walked closer to me. I hopped out of bed.

"Stay there, Gwen. Or do you prefer Katherine? Katy, kitty Kat? Any of the nick names I used when we were dating?"

"Fuck, I didn't think you would remember this soon. I just need you to trust-"

"Trust you? You ruined my life. None of it was real, was it? The first person and only person I have ever loved was completely fictional! Did you turn me into this with your weird blood magic shit? You know what, don't even bother answering. You're a liar, I could never believe any answer you gave me!" I was screaming at her. My skin prickled and my eyes burned.

"I have lived centuries longer than you. When you live that long, you have to make tough decisions and do the smart thing instead of the right thing. I did what I had to do to keep you safe!"

"From what! The only thing that was ever a threat to me was failing a test or getting disowned by my parents! You made me a part of this world. The one that has had me kidnapped, beaten, bitten, and made me a murderer! You did this to me! How could you? You told me you loved me!" Tears slipped down my cheeks as I yelled. Nothing I had ever felt was real, it couldn't have been. 

"Ba- Kyra, you haven't had to deal with the others yet and that's because I have kept you safe. If I hadn't been by your side for years, using magic to hide you, they would have found you. I love you; I do. I never lied when I said that. I am a liar, and I'm probably crazy too at this point. But I love you and I need you to understand that." Gwen reached for me, but I grabbed her wrist before she touched me.

"If you loved me, you would've been honest. You wouldn't have outed me to my parents. You wouldn't have done all this in an effort to protect your secrets," I hissed, my fingers tightening around her wrist. My skin was glowing slightly, spiderwebs of sharp blue spreading over my skin.

"If I had told you the truth, you would've flipped out and ran, like you always do when anything scares you! It took months for you to woman up enough to kiss me and the first time you did, you panicked and left. Didn't talk to me for 3 days. How do you think you would've taken me telling you I'm probably the oldest lesbian in this dimension, I actually have red hair, and I'm an unkillable magical being? Hmmm? How do you think that would've worked out for me?" Gwen snapped.

"You could've tried. It wouldn't have been hard to prove it. I loved you enough to trust you at least before all the shitty stuff you did," I said, starting softly and ending loudly.

"And when was I supposed to drop that bombshell? The first time we kissed? When you told me you loved me? How about after I asked you to move in? Or when you were too much of a coward to move across the country with me and you broke up with me?"

"That was not what happened!" I yelled.

"You're hurting me, Kyra," Gwen said calmly.

It took me a second to let go. Her skin came away pale, almost blue. I had been freezing her. She rubbed her arm to try and get it warm again. I swallowed an apology. After everything she did to me, she didn’t deserve one.

"I couldn't be who Katherine- you- wanted me to be. That wasn't the life I wanted," I murmured.

"No, it was exactly the life you wanted but you were too afraid to take it," Gwen told me firmly. “You wouldn’t let yourself think past what your parents wanted.”

"I'm glad I didn't. You said I would've turned into this, regardless of what you did?"

She nodded in reply.

"Then I'm glad I spent the rest of my time with people who cared about me and not you," I growled. I grabbed a pile of clothes and went to the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me. It was a bit petulant, but it felt good. Tears continued to stream down my face, and I tried to cry as quietly as possible as I sat on the cool tile floor. 

I was so confused and hurt, I didn't know where to start. Blood rushed through my ears as my heart hammered in my chest. Black dots swirled in my vision and I felt the floor slip out from under my feet as everything went black.

\----

I stayed on the ground in the darkness for what seemed like hours, absorbing all the new information. After my mind had settled, I stood and started walking. This was probably a dream or some sort of vision, but I was ready to welcome the distraction from reality. There wasn't anything to mark where I was, in fact, there wasn't anything at all. That didn't matter, the quiet was soothing after all the noise of the real world. 

As I walked, my surroundings began to lighten, not by a huge amount, but by enough that I could make out some walls and other vague shapes. I stopped when I smelt the blood. The room became clearer now. It was the warehouse where I had last seen James and Xavier. The blood on the floor was a combination of mine and the vampire's.

"Where did they go? Did you see anything?" James' voice yelled. His and Xavier's figures became defined.

"James, you need to calm down. We just fucked up," Xavier instructed.

"Yeah, we fucked up. We've been babysitting a new daemon and we just lost our chance to kill it!"

"No, we just alienated a possible ally against the daemons. Has Kyra ever given you a reason to think she was anything other than a decent person? I'll answer that, no she hasn't. She's confused and Gwen is going to take advantage of that now that you turned her against us. You were starting to care about her, and this daemon shit blurred your vision."

"She was siding with a fucking vamp, she called Gwen, she's not innocent! How could you even suggest that?" James pushed down the guilt that was starting to eat at him. Even only knowing her for a short time, Kyra had been genuinely innocent and too good of a person to be a hunter. How could he suggest she was a daemon of the same caliber as the others?

"Maybe she was onto something with the vamp, but it looked to me like you were about to take her out after she'd already had her throat torn open by that bloodsucker. She was probably scared and reacted on instinct. Right now, we need to do damage control." Xavier was trying to think logically. Usually, James was the brains of the operation, but he was a hothead and Xavier took over when he got like this. James needed time to cool down and think. "We need to figure out why there is a new daemon and what that means. We regroup, do some digging, and then we figure this out together. Alright?"

James nodded sharply and turned on his heel to exit the room. I'd seen what I needed to, so I kept moving as the vision faded back to black.

The darkness was almost comforting in its absolute emptiness. I'd already tried to think my way out of the situation and the truth was, there was no good way out. I had no one to turn to, nowhere to go, no clues to work off of. The devil I knew- well sort of at least- was better than the unknown. For all her issues, I did believe that Gwen cared for me in her own fucked up way. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. So far, I had been safer with her than on my own. If I was being honest with myself, it was because I really did love Katherine and those feelings were now tied to Gwen in one way or another. I had some sort of unhealthy attachment to her.

I was about to try and leave or wake up, whatever the right term was, when the air suddenly turned thick. Heat flashed in front of me and the vague shape of a man appeared in the darkness.

"You're new," he said. His voice filled me with dread, and I jolted away, his image disappearing as quickly as it came.

\----

The darkness began to dissipate as my surroundings came back into view. I was in the bathroom, with my pile of clean clothes. I pulled them on slowly, delaying the inevitability that I would need to leave the bathroom and speak to Gwen again. I shook off the strange man's words and filed the whole 'vision' away to think about later.

Shuffling my feet, I opened the door and surveyed the room. Gwen stood up slowly from the barstool at the kitchenette island. A glance at the clock told me I had been in there for almost an hour. I took a moment to compose myself and figure out what I wanted to say to her.

"What you've done is not okay. It's awful and I don't care how justified it may or may not have been, you fucked up." My words were surprisingly steady for how nervous I felt. Gwen just kept looking at me, her red eyes apologetic. "But I know no one else. I have nowhere else to go, no one who might be able to explain anything. So here is what is going to happen." I took a breath and relaxed my shoulders before beginning again. "You are going to tell me everything. I don't care if it's dangerous or not. If you don't answer my questions or if you lie, I will leave. We are not friends, we aren't anything. I'm staying with you because it is convenient. Once it stops being convenient, I'm going to leave."

I was harsh and I could see the conflicted look on Gwen's face and also heard the small sigh of relief. I hated conflict of this sort. I hated setting boundaries. But I never wanted to be the type of women who allows herself to be manipulated by toxic people. I wasn't going to start now just because I lov- used to love her.

"I understand. Sometimes the only choices you have are bad, but you still have to choose. Where should we start?" Gwen asked me, sitting back down on the stool.

"The beginning, when you first found out about me."


	21. Forced Soul Bonds

\---- Several Years Ago ---- 

**Gwen**

No one actually likes high school and I didn't make a habit of hanging around them. For one thing, it was just plain creepy at my age, even if I didn't look it. For another, teenagers were hormonal messes and that energy always annoyed me. The only reason I was even here now was because of a girl and no, not in a creepy way. It had been a while since I felt the energy of someone at a distance, but I had easily picked up on her when I made my trip to a beach in Monterey. It was cold in an icy, thrilling sort of way. Like how you feel when you jump into an unheated pool too early in the season. Curiosity was something I always failed to resist so I followed the energy to her high school. 

It wasn't hard to find her sitting alone under a tree, reading a book with music playing quietly next to her. She was cute, in an awkward, gangly sort of way. Her hair was frizzy and the curls almost reached her shoulders. A black hoodie was tied around her waist revealing her loose blue t-shirt and dark blue jeans. The most interesting thing was her eyes. They were electrically blue in a surreal way. That color matched her energy perfectly and increased my curiosity. 

I'll admit that the girl became an obsession of mine. I found out everything I possibly could about her. She liked music with complex lyrics, young adult action adventure books, animals, and archery. Kyra was shy, but wouldn't hesitate to speak out against a bully. Her home life was okay, but her parents were conservative and very much anti-queer. That was another thing I noticed about the girl- she spent just as much time checking out women as she did men. Not that she ever did anything about it. The kid was hopeless, I had never found any evidence she had ever been on a date even though she was almost 18. I almost wanted to give her some tips, but it was better I kept my distance. 

After several months of research - yes, I am aware that it was technically stalking, but I don't care- I had a few theories. First, I was fairly certain she had at least some psychic ability. Second, I was in fact sure that she was an empath, especially when it came to touching someone. She likely didn't notice it, but after hugging someone, her mood would often match theirs, if only for a little while. There were also things that didn't make any sense. As I dug deeper into her past, I found multiple instances where she had experienced something close to death. Pneumonia as a child, she had been hospitalized for it. An allergic reaction to some expired shellfish at 12 which had also sent her to the hospital. And I had even witnessed her just barely escaping being hit by a car when walking to school. Something about her was special and it was more than some sort of witch. 

It wasn't until I was watching her at some point after her high school graduation when I really began to suspect she was a daemon. She had walked down to the beach at night during a light rainstorm. Standing by the waves, overlooking the water, 7 strikes of lightning hit the ocean in quick succession. Her eyes are what told me she might be a daemon. They reflected the glowing blue of the lightning on the ocean for several minutes after the sky had gone dark. All daemons have these unnaturally bright eyes in shades no other mortal possesses. I should have known from the moment I saw her that she was like me, it just didn't cross my mind until that night on the beach.

Not much is known about daemons. We keep to ourselves and don't share our secrets. What I did know was that there were 6 of us, all originating from a different continent, all with our own strong will and unique personalities. I was from North America. What little I remembered of my past was mostly of me being an outsider. My eyes were red when I was born, as was my hair. My skin was white. My family thought I was a demon, but they were kind enough to take care of me. Until they didn't. 

I 'died' in my late teens, strangled by a man I denied. He hid my body and I woke in a shallow grave about a year after with strange magics. I was fine on my own for almost 1000 years. Exploring the world, shifting between tribes and Norse colonies. I was more accepted by the Norse invaders. More of them shared my features than my own people. It was sometime in the year 1100 when I met Kaldar. He was the first daemon I met. And the only one any of us are truly afraid of. I don't think he remembers how old he is or where he came from. If he did, he would certainly never tell the rest of us. All we know wis that he's a power hungry son of a bitch with no remorse, no mercy. He's honestly probably the world's first psychopath. He kills humans for fun. He likes to see how far he can push the mind and body before it gives out. You would be familiar with his more recent work as Jack the Ripper. Sometimes he wants an audience to view his work. Most of the time, though, he's content to be a sadist in peace. He only ever asks for favors when he doesn't feel like doing something on his own. And if you ever do anything that goes against his wishes, you'll wish you were never born. All the daemons learned that the hard way. We can't die through normal methods so he can keep us alive and in hell until he feels we've served our time.

That's all a bit ahead, though. We'll talk about that in detail later. The main thing I learned from him and the others is that we 'die' around our prime. Sometimes it's an accident, sometimes murder, one of us killed themselves. The most common is the strange natural murder. Fire, drowning, lightning. The fates will make sure our mortal lives end when she is ready.

\-----

**Kyra**

“None of that explains any danger to me. I didn’t piss any immortal beings off. Why won’t I be left alone?” I argued, my arms crossed.

“Because one way or another, you will get caught in the hairs of either the other daemons or the fae. Gods we haven’t even begun talking about those racist fuckers. Your existence upsets the balance that the Fates created. Either Kaldar or the fae would try to use you against the other and no matter what you do, the other side would retaliate.”

“Fae? Of course there are fairies. Xavier told me about them, I guess I just forgot. When you’ve got witches and werewolves and vampires and different types of hunters, why not add some winged and apparently racist faeries to the mix. Why should I be scared of the fucking faeries?” I asked after completing my little rant.

“First of all, they don’t have wings. Second of all, they are some of the most dangerous things- besides us- that you will ever encounter. They hate mortals. The only good human is a dead human to them. If they ever come across one, they kill it. They are ruthless, plotting, manipulative, lying sparkly assholes.”

“If they hate humans that bad, how come there aren’t bodies everywhere from them?” I asked, still not believing in their existence.

“Because they exist in a pocket dimension that only has a couple very small, very fragile portals to our own dimension. It would take several covens of witches to stabilize it enough for more than one person to go through within the same day. Or it would take a daemon to stabilize it for anyone to pass through. Either way, it isn’t worth it to them to try and invade while Kaldar exists. They are scared shitless of him.”

“The fuck is a pocket dimension?” I questioned. She made sense, sort of, I guess.

“It’s like a tiny reality that overlaps with ours. They exist in the same place and time, just slightly out of phase to form their own dimension. It’s tiny. About a quarter of the size of our entire planet and they would love to take over if they could. They would happily take advantage of a new daemon. So would Kaldar.”

“Okay, so it’s a shitty situation if they find out I exist. You still didn’t have to fake my death; you didn’t have to do whatever it is you did with my family!”

“I protected you. The rest of us had much more traumatic deaths and awakenings. I wanted to keep you from living with the same burdens we do,” Gwen insisted.

“Well, I feel pretty traumatized.”

“It could have been worse, Kyra,” Gwen said firmly.

“How? Tell me, how exactly it could have been worse?” I shouted.

“Akinyi drowned and spent her year in a river. When she woke up, she was so disoriented that she was terrified of everything and everyone. Akinyi massacred her whole village including her husband and two children when she rose, on accident. This was 3000 years ago in eastern Africa. When we die, we appear dead. You had no pulse, no breath. I faked the vitals with magic to keep you comfortable so you wouldn’t spend a year in a grave only to have to claw your way up. When you did wake up, I absorbed your energy- at great personal risk to myself- to keep you from hurting anyone. Monterey has a much larger population. You could have done serious damage and I stopped that. I can only block your magic for so long though, so I made sure you couldn’t go back to your family who are a source of serious mental distress for you. Do you really want to live the next thousand years with the knowledge you accidently killed your parents because they hurt your feelings?”

It made sense. It hurt, but I understood it.

“What else have you been using your magic for when it comes to me?” I asked suspiciously.

Gwen sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “Until yesterday, I had a good portion of my magic and lifeforce hidden within your own in order to mask your presence and… and keep you drawn to me.”

“The red mist that left me when you did the healing?” I asked carefully trying to keep myself from blowing up at her again.

“Yes. I needed to remove it because I was too weak to be of much use to you in the state I was. As long as you avoid using your magic, stay by me, and Kaldar isn’t looking for anything unusual, we might be okay for a bit.”

“What did you mean ‘keep me drawn to you’?”

“Sharing your magic is like sharing lifeforce, they both are interconnected. Doing that forms a sort of soul bond. You understand that person and you want to be by them. It hurts not to,” she admitted.

“So it was part of the trick.” I sighed. I guess that made me feel better to know my feelings had been so fully manipulated. It didn’t explain why I still felt ghat connection to her today.

“Is all your magic gone?” I questioned, accusingly.

“All that I put there on purpose. Spending time with someone whose magic is similar to yours, it ends up meshing together a bit. The more time you spend, the more it connects. Some people are better suited to those connections than others. It’s one of the main things behind the idea of soulmates. Most people don’t realize it’s on a gradient, though. Not everything is black and white.”

“Is that why you wanted to make me love you?” I whispered, not really wanting to say the words aloud. Out of all the things I had been angry about, this hurt the most. Being more hurt over a broken heart than a lost family was ridiculous and irrational. Knowing that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t mean too?” Gwen asked.

“No,” I answered. “I wouldn’t.”

“It started as wanting to know you face to face. But you were sweet and thoughtful, and it had been so long since I cared about anyone… I never meant to get attached. It just happened. The soul bond was unexpected. The rest of the daemons rarely experience anything like-”

“I’m going to take a walk,” I declared, standing suddenly and walking to the door.

“Kyra, wait-“

“No. I told you. We aren’t friends, we aren’t _soulmates_ , we aren’t anything. I need you for information. And right now, I need a break. I’ll be back.”


	22. An Introduction to a Fate

**A Fate With No Name**

\---- Over 24 Years ago--- 

The Fates, while often grouped together, were in fact very individual beings with different agendas. Some liked to cause pain and suffering, others a sort of balanced chaos, and some only wanted to do good. Often, their actions matched those in their last life. The scales were always somewhat maligned and attempting to balance again. One thing was a constant, change.

If the world was peaceful, you could be certain it would turn to war soon enough. Just as certain, war would turn to peace eventually. None of this was to say that the Fated themselves had no choice in how things would turn out. Quite the opposite. The Fated decided what to do with what life had given them, only rarely were their options or their choices ever solely good.

Everyone was born with potential in unlimited amounts. Every choice they made limited it. Unfortunately, the most common limiting factor of potential was others. Those fueled by greed, hatred, and ignorance had amassed a great deal of power in the world’s history. This hoarding of power and resources made it difficult for others to become all that they were destined to be.

The Fates were partially to blame for the state of the Fated. Many chose to ‘sponsor’, if you will, individuals who could forward their own goals. You would be surprised how much luck has to do with a person’s survival. Say you want your Fated to be the lead in a role instead of the understudy. All it takes is the gentle manipulation of an icy sidewalk to cause the original lead to slip, fall, and break their neck. The chosen Fated benefit from luck granted by the Fates.

Not all Fates are so vicious. Some just want to see the world become a better place. They pause the rain when you forget your umbrella before an important meeting. Or they remind a driver to slow down so the unseen child running to get their ball in the street isn’t hit. Maybe they even just help your plants grow a little bit stronger or make sure your favorite song plays on the radio when you are having a particularly difficult day.

I used to prefer just to watch. Occasionally I would manipulate things ever so slightly to prevent harm. It was a carefully practiced skill, but one I had stopped using over the centuries. Getting involved was only painful. I was no longer alive in the same capacity as before and mingling just reminded me of that fact. Thousands of years like this and the world didn’t remember me as I was before. My name had been stolen by my murderer. My good deeds had been destroyed, erased, as if they never existed. The women I loved and my unborn child that I never met had long since grown old and died. What was the point in interacting with any of what the world now was? My actions would so quickly be undone by either the humans or the Fates.

The others told me that remaining in our own realm for so long blurred the mind, making memories harder and harder to reach. Eventually, I too would fade away, they warned. I had ignored them for long enough. Hiding didn’t provide any more peace than the human realm did. This is what prompted me to visit the supposed realm of my origin and observe what was left of my descendants after thousands of years in a state of mourning.

Earth had changed more than I had realized from my spot in the place where I had hidden myself away. The people still felt the same, though. Bright, unique, powerful in ways most didn’t understand. I had always loved the possibilities humanity was filled with. While many did terrible things, the goodness in the rest made up for it. That’s what I had believed in my first life, anyways. The actions of a few shouldn’t negate the many. After millennia, it was exhausting to continually fight those few.

My youngest descendant at the time of my first true visit home in centuries, was only 3. I would’ve have gone to see his father, but that man had a shroud of darkness around him I did not wish to engage with. The child was young, and innocent. James Bás was his name of birth. Surprisingly, he was part fae and it seemed some sort of destiny had attached itself to him without Fate intervention. This was not uncommon. Many were born with a purpose or a strength that would lead them to greatness. The difference was that the Fates often pushed them towards what form their greatness would take. I was aware of the prophecy attached to my descendants. It was more of a curse I had placed in a moment of anger and weakness before my death. Apparently, even 5,000 odd years later, it was still there.

The child had dark blond hair in the form of messy curls along his face. His eyes were a brilliant green, but I foresaw they may take another hue sometime in his future. As a Fate, I could see strands of possibility. Sometimes they even took on a tangible form when they were powerful enough. The gift of the Fates was to twist and weave these strands into one of the possibilities they already could arrive at. We just liked to choose the one that would benefit us the most.

The child had an unusually thick thread tying him to someone far from his home. It was as thick as a piece of straw and the most brilliant blue I had ever seen. Usually, this thickness could be seen connecting adults who were quite close. Children didn’t have the time to have developed those relationships with anyone aside from family and this thread was different from the ones connected to his mother and father.

My curiosity got the better of me and I followed it across several states instantaneously and into a hospital delivery room where a baby had just been born. None could see me if I did not wish it and my abilities allowed me to move infinitely faster than the humans, even if I was indeed unpracticed after my time in self-inflicted isolation.

The newborn was a girl with eyes colored just as the thread that connected her to my descendant. What was even more peculiar with the countless strands emanating from her person in every direction and in every color imaginable. This was no ordinary human. She was meant to affect too many lives in existence for it to be so simple as that.

Peering closer, I looked for what hidden magics she possessed. As I searched her very soul, I saw it. I was correct in doubting her humanity. She was to become a daemon.

I carefully moderated the conflicted feelings that rose within me. While a daemon had been the one to destroy all that I was, I could not blame the others for his actions. I refused to be so ignorant as to assume all creatures were of a kind morally. I had seen enough to know better.

I decided to watch this girl carefully. She would become something great, maybe I could help to guide her to be kind instead of cruel. If nothing else, I wanted to know what would become of that strand of fate that had formed so strongly the moment she was born and connected her to James.

\---- Much More Recently----

Apparently, my descendant didn’t have the same view on the girl as I did. I had been waiting for him to find out what she was and did my best to mediate his reaction. Unfortunately, his father’s hatred of the daemons combined with his disappearance (assumed death) and his mother’s murder made it difficult for him to view the girl with anything other than an immediate reaction of hatred. It had been disappointing, to say the least. But after Guinevere had taken the girl into her protection, he seemed to feel some sort of regret for his actions. There was still hope for an alliance between Kyra and James. As long as they didn’t become enemies, I felt I would be satisfied.

James was not a perfect example of humanity, but I could see the good in him. He was not so much angry as he was sad. The daemons brought out feelings of vengeance in him because he blamed them for the demise of his parents. James had been raised to believe that monsters were easily defined and identified. Wolves, vampires, and witches (who did not follow the rules of the hunters) all fell into the category of monster. Daemons were the worst of them, in his mind, even though he had no true experience with them until recently. Soon, I suspected, his world view would be shaken especially in regard to Kyra.

The azure string of fate connecting them had only grown over the years. Now it was as thick as a finger and I predicted it would increase in size as they spent more time in each other’s company.

The girl, Kyra’s, strands of fate had twisted as she aged. One of the strongest, barring James, was that of Guinevere. It was red, of course, and not ideal. Guinevere was not as evil a person as she could be, but she no longer cared to do what was right and good. Age and experience had hardened her and chipped away at her humanity, leaving her only visible redeeming quality to be her unusual love of Kyra. Her influence had tangled and complicated Kyra’s future possibilities. I was concerned that Kyra may begin to emulate the behavior Guinevere did. The belief that they were too powerful to care about anything or anyone. Some of the other Fates seemed to have made that ending their goal. They wanted the chaos another daemon could bring instead of the good. I had done my best to mitigate this, but it was up to Kyra now to decide who she would become.

Influencing daemons became near impossible once they died their human deaths. The Fates didn’t know why, at least those whose company I occasionally kept could not explain it. All I knew from my observations of Kyra was that while her strands of fate were visible, I could no longer touch them and even trying to look into their futures was practically impossible. My true worries were focused on the realm I could not see. The fae and their scheming were hidden from me as I could no longer enter their realm without assistance. It seemed that something was in the works that would further upset the precarious balance the Fates contributed to.


	23. The Break Up

I needed a moment, several moments actually, to force myself to let go of Katherine. Katherine was a person who never really existed, a mask for Gwen to hide behind and use. You can’t truly love someone whose identity was built on that many lies. Rationally, it didn’t matter if Gwen had fallen for me when pretending to be Katherine. I had never been able to know the person behind the mask.

Katherine had been my first kiss, my first love, my first a lot of things. I had told her things I’d never said aloud before. She knew everything I loved and hated, everything I was afraid of. Katherine had been this tiny force of nature. Her presence filled up a room and commanded your attention. Anywhere we went, she constantly caught the eye of the people around her, but she never made me feel like I wasn’t enough.

I guess it made sense, some of our fights towards the end. I still didn’t think it was alright how possessive and controlling she got, but now I could see that it was out of a fear of something out of her control getting to me.

It wasn’t easy, letting go of years of my life. I no longer had my family or nay of the handful of friends before I died. I couldn’t even hold on to happy memories of Katherine anymore because they were tainted with the knowledge I now held. Nothing tied me to my human life anymore. I could never go back in any capacity. I guess, letting go of Katherine was also my way of letting go of the woman I was before all this.

Before I died, I had been shy, awkward, and afraid of so many things. Messing up, failing, being outed. There were so many things that I tried to control and all it did was stress me out. Now there was still plenty out of my control, but I was stronger. I could start over as whoever I wanted, do whatever I wanted. I didn’t have to hide so much of myself anymore. Losing everything was sad and I wished it had never happened. That being said, I was ready to start trying to embrace my knew life and figure out how to live in the world now that my eyes were open.

“Katherine never existed,” I told myself quietly. “And you are strong enough to deal with this.” Taking a few deep breaths, I steeled myself before returning to the room

“I want to know what you were up to after we broke up,” I stated.

\---- Over 2 Years Ago----

“I can’t just hold off my acceptance to vet school to go traveling with you, Kat. You know I have a plan; I’m not taking a gap year!”

“There is so much of the world you haven’t seen! You haven’t even left the country or even been to the east coast. Vet school will still be there in a year!”

“I have the scholarship now, I can’t keep it if I wait,” I tried to explain for the thousandth time. “Plus, my parents would throw a fit. It’s hard enough to say you are my roommate, if I told them I was going traveling with you for a year, they would know something was up. They aren’t stupid!”

“Then let me pay for your tuition! And come out to them. You are an adult, you deserve to live your life for you, not them!” Katherine insisted.

“I’m not going to be your sugar baby or whatever it would be in this situation. And you know I can't do that. They’re my family, I love them, and I don’t want to upset them.”

“If they are upset, that’s their problem! You are amazing and being queer is a part of you. As for your sugar baby comment, I already pay for our apartment and most of our bills. Why does it matter if I add on tuition?” Katherine tossed her hands in the air.

“You insisted on paying for the apartment and I would’ve been okay getting my own when my parents told me it was time for me to move out, but we’ve already been over that. I want to be self-sufficient, Kat. You know that! They don’t need to know everything about me. Being queer isn’t a personality trait!”

“That’s such a shitty thing that straight people say to us! It is part of you and and just as important as everything else! Plenty of straight relationships have one financially dependent on the other. What’s wrong with being dependent on me? We love each other!”

“What’s wrong?! What’s wrong is how you don’t want me to leave the house without you and you were tracking my phone when I went out with Becky the other night. My very straight, very married friend. You always want to know where I am and what I’m doing. It’s suffocating, Kat!”

“I’m just keeping an eye out for you. I don’t want you to get hurt. Why am I the bad guy for wanting you to be safe?”

“God, that’s such a manipulative thing to say! There is an obvious difference between caring for my safety and being controlling!”

“I know you aren’t used to people caring about you and maybe you’re afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone-“

“My comfort zone? Kat, what the fuck. I want to go to school and get married and have kids. I don’t want to put all that on hold to travel Europe and be your kept girlfriend.”

“I don’t believe in marriage and I don’t want kids, Kyra. We can be just as happy together somewhere in New York or Mexico.”

“You don’t want kids?” I asked, crestfallen.

“Neither of us really have the equipment to knock the other up. It wasn’t ever a possibility, baby,” Katherine softened her voice and gave me a sad smile.

“I always thought we would adopt or something. Is that not something you want?” I questioned.

“No.”

“I- I don’t know what to say, Katherine.”

“Just say you’ll come with me.”

“Come with you? We don’t want the same things out of life, I think….”

“What do you think, Kyra?”

“I think that we need to end this. It isn’t going to work out.”

“Kyra don’t be silly. This is a little argument, not a relationship ender.”

“I’m not going with you. I want to get married and have kids. I can’t deal with this anymore.”

“Kyra, baby, come on,” Katherine pleaded.

“I’m gonna go start packing up my things to move into the dorms. I’ll be out by the weekend.”

“How did we even go from a trip around the world to breaking up?” Katherine asked exasperatedly.

“Don’t act like this hasn’t been coming for a while. I don’t- this isn’t a healthy relationship for me. I stayed for this long because I was afraid of leaving, but I know better than to stay in a situation like this.”

“I understand, Kyra, I do. I can be better. Please don’t leave me. We are meant to be together; I can’t lose you.”

“I’ll stay on the couch tonight.”

\--- A week later, somewhere in South America---

“I don’t get why you’re so upset, Gwen. Last time we hooked up, you told me she was just a new plaything. You didn’t seem serious about her. That was a year ago, I don’t know why you’re acting like it’s the end of the world,” Ch’aska said, eyeing the hot mess that was Guinevere. 

“Things changed. I care about her now. I realized I got fucking attached and flipped my shit worrying about her. Fates, this is all my fault,” Gwen said, tossing back another shot of some hard liquor. She wasn’t picky at the moment.

“Just go apologize, work those bedroom eyes on her and all will be well,” Ch’aska shrugged.

“No, you don’t get it. I was so baaad. I fucking gaslighted her. I HATE it when men gaslight their girls and now I’m a hypocrite. I’m a bazillion years old and a gaslighting, control freak, hypocrite!” Gwen reached over the counter and grabbed a bottle of tequila, shooting the bartender a glare and tossing him a chunk of cash before she opened it and took a few large gulps.

“Hey there, you are about to pass tipsy and into drunk. I am all for that, by the way, but maybe somewhere with less witnesses.”

Being a daemon came with increased metabolism and more efficient energy processing. It also made it difficult to get drunk. In fact, unless you allowed you magic to lower ever so slightly or you had limited control (like with a new daemon), it was impossible to pass buzzed.

“Fine, fine. You're right. Back to your place or mine?”

“Let’s go to mine. I’m sure your hotel is as nice as it gets, but …..”

“So judgy. I happen to looove hotels.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know. You like the ‘freedom of exploration with nothing to tie you down’. Come, let’s get in my car.”

That was one of the last clear things Gwen remembered about that night.

\---- 2 weeks Later----

Gwen had returned to Kyra not long after their argument. She remained hidden, only there to observe and bolster the magic hiding Kyra’s own. The curly haired woman had looked tired and a bit stressed, but overall appeared to be doing alright. It hurt to not be part of her life anymore, however, Gwen knew it was only a matter of time before Kyra died. She was 22, fully grown and healthy. The Fates were surely getting ready to begin the process.

So, Gwen stayed away, allowing Kyra to enjoy what was left of her time as a human. Gwen decided that they could start over once Kyra had settled into her life as a daemon. Surely after realizing all Gwen had done to keep her safe, it was only logical Kyra would forgive her. But Gwen had doubts. She knew how much Kyra cared for her family, even if they didn’t deserve her. The daemon to be would never willingly abandon them. Gwen knew what she had to do.

As Kyra’s magic began to surge, Gwen strongly suspected that it was almost time for the change. On the night of the summer solstice, Gwen was certain it was time. The magic she had left after protecting Kyra may be weak for a daemon, but it was still stronger than a witch’s. Even a novice witch could sense the difference in the air. Gwen decided to sever Kyra’s ties to her family and the mortal world. It was for the best. This was the only way to prevent an extended heartbreak. That night, Gwen anonymously outed Kyra. It was harsh and cruel, but efficient. The fight sent Kyra off running to the beach to escape. After she had left the house, Gwen began manipulating reality enough to blur the fact that Kyra had ever existed. It was a spell that would take time to cement especially with how depleted Gwen’s magic reserves were, but after a year, no one would recognize Kyra Day.

When Kyra fell from the lightning, Gwen took her to the hospital and carefully encased her in magic faking vitals. Gwen spent the year close enough to California to protect Kyra and cloak her existence. She avoided the others and stayed out of trouble. To be honest, she was too weak to handle much of anything. Years of hiding a daemon were taking their toll. It didn’t really matter to her though. She loved Kyra and protecting her was worth it. And when Kyra woke, Gwen let her go back home to really emphasize that her old life was done.

\----

“So everything you did, you did because you wanted to protect me and the toxic shit was because you loved me and you were sleeping with this Ch’aska chick while we were together and right after we broke up? Did I miss anything?” I asked, failing to swallow the sarcasm.

“I’m also much weaker than the others because I spent all this time hiding you. And yeah, I know I fucked up, repeatedly, but I want to start over.” Gwen sounded like she was being honest.

Still, I couldn’t just forgive and forget that easily.

“You said I’m going to live forever and so are you. Once I remember you saying that we will outlive the consequences of our actions. It’s going to take time for me to even come close to being okay with starting over. And you are going to have a lot to make up for.”

“I understand,” Gwen said as her shoulders slumped slightly.

“If it’s all right with you, I’ll sleep here tonight and decide what to do next in the morning.”

“You're always welcome by my side, Kyra. No matter how long it takes you.”


	24. Figure it Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: blood, violence, death, destruction

A sharp knock on the door broke the tense moment. Gwen suddenly stiffened, eyes flashing brightly before her face paled.

“I am aware you are in there Guinevere. I knocked as a curtesy, but I do expect you to open the door and invite me in,” a familiar masculine voice with a slight English accent ordered from behind the hotel door. I knew I had heard it before.

Oh no.

It was Kaldar.

Gwen stepped forward and opened the door slowly. On the other side stood a giant of a man. He filled the doorway and was 6’4’’ easily. Dark brown hair was tied with precision into a bun on the back of his head. He was muscular from what I could tell and wore an expensive looking black suit without a tie. Kaldar’s eyes were the most unnerving feature of his appearance. You couldn’t tell where his pupils ended and his irises began. They were both black in stark contrast to the white of his eyes. It wasn’t a normal, one dimensional black color either. They were reflective like a cat’s, catching the light and shining in an almost hypnotic way. The darkness of his eyes contrasted sharply with the pale white of his skin.

“We had a deal, Kaldar,” Gwen hissed, one hand on the door while keeping her body in front of the opening.

“When I agreed to your suggestion, I wasn’t aware what precisely you were hiding. You should know that _all_ daemons are my business,” Kaldar said, staring down at me while he spoke. Gwen stepped aside and Kaldar took two large steps into the hotel room. Stopping when he was close to me. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Day. You have the most stunningly blue eyes.” He extended his hand and I hesitantly reached to shake it, not expecting him to lean over and place a kiss on the back of my hand. His skin was unnaturally hot, and his lips were dry, like he had a high fever. I suppressed a shiver of disgust.

“It’s Kyra and… thanks,” I stated, doing my best to not wipe my hand off on my jeans. He looked perfectly healthy. Maybe he just ran warm?

“My name is Kaldar, but you already know that,” he said, flashing me a smile of blindingly white teeth in a way that made me think of a shark. His canines seemed slightly long for his mouth and ended in sharp points.

I nodded, not sure what he wanted me to say. My hands were pressed flatly against my jeans as I worked to keep them from fidgeting. I didn’t want to show any sign of fear.

“As Guinevere knows, there is a fae ball occurring in a week’s time. I am requiring all daemons to attend. I was not aware of your existence until recently, however, I am quite certain that the fae already know of you in some way.”

“Why would I want to go to a fae ball?” I asked. Gwen shot me a warning glance at my tone.

“If you attend, I would be willing to overlook Guinevere’s unseemly act of disloyalty,” Kaldar said.

“And if I don’t?”

“I’m sure Guinevere would be more than willing to fill you in on the consequences of her betrayal.”

Gwen swallowed uncomfortably and glanced at me pleadingly.

“Fine,” I agreed. Gwen had done terrible things to me, but I didn’t want her to be tortured.

“Excellent. Guinevere knows where and when. I look forward to seeing you again,” Kaldar said, turning on his heel and stepping out of the room, leaving us in momentary silence.

“Fuck!” Gwen exclaimed after a few heartbeats. “How did he even find out about you? I was so careful. My spell should still be intact, it was supposed to last.” She began pacing nervously, hand over her mouth.

“Kyra, I need to see if my spell is still working,” Gwen said, looking at me.

“I thought you removed all your magic?” I asked suspiciously.

“I did, but this is a spell that was ingrained in you for years. I would have to use magic to undo it at this point. It should hide you from the others. I need to know if it’s still working so I can figure out how he found out about you. Fates, this is all going to shit!” I had never seen her this terrified and frantic, not even when I found out about her lies.

“Okay, okay. Take a breath. We can figure this out. You have my permission to check what you need to check,” I said, trying to calm her down. Her anxiety was making me nervous. Kaldar had been menacing in an overtly polite way, but I didn’t quite see why she was reacting so strongly. She always appeared so fearless to me, I couldn’t understand why she would feel so powerless. I remembered what she had told me about him and his not-so-subtle threats. It was hard to think anyone was capable of the sort of things she described.

Gwen quickly covered the short distance between us and gently place one hand on my cheek and the other on the side of my neck. Looking deep into my eyes, it was almost uncomfortably intimate, and I was unused to the contact. Barely visible crimson mist swirled in the air around our heads before dissipating. Gwen released the tension in her shoulders and slowly removed her hands from my skin. I was strangely disappointed at the loss of contact. I guess I really was touch starved.

“So, is it still working?” I asked, trying to shake of the intense moment.

“Yes. The only daemon who will ever be able to track you is me.”

I grimaced. “Lovely. Then how did he find us?”

“Most likely, someone found out about you and told him, and he found me. Or he was watching us and put it all together himself,” Gwen explained. “The good news is that he can't find you….”

“Unless I’m with you,” I said, finishing her thought. She nodded.

“It was strange how he behaved. He was too calm for what I did. I think he’s up to something,” Gwen said, almost to herself.

“Well, it’s getting late. We can figure this out in the morning once we’ve gotten some sleep,” I said decisively.

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

Gwen went and lied down on the couch, opting to stay in her day clothes and shoes. I guess she was still on edge. I pulled off my jeans and slipped under my blankets, swallowing the sense of foreboding I had become familiar with anytime I tried to sleep.

\----

Everything was on fire. Thick, acrid smoke filled my lungs combined with the coppery smell of blood and the sickly-sweet scent of death. The air rippled with heat, but I felt cold as ice. Trees collapsed to ash and buildings exploded into rubble. Screaming caught my attention and I tried to find the source. I couldn’t because it surrounded me. All around me were twisted and torn bodies. Some were barely identifiable as human. The asphalt was soaked with blood and the sky was a hazy purple color.

The scene in front of me changed into the form of a palace. It was bright and shown like a diamond. The sky above was dark and void of stars. The only light was from floating lanterns and strange glowing plants. Men, women, and people of unidentifiable genders were filing into the ballroom. Their skin was all beautiful and similar to the outside walls of the palace. Almost everyone seemed to be covered in sparkles of various brightness. I wasn’t convinced that the people I saw were even human. Sure, they were shaped like humans, but many had much more unique features than I had ever seen before. Some had angular ears, others had no nose instead they had slits on their faces that fluttered softly. Their skin tones ranged from the deepest ebony to a translucent color and I noticed those who appeared slightly blue, green, and orange. Everyone was dressed elaborately in ball gowns, suits, or mixtures of the two. The occasional… person… wore only enough to cover their groin. It was beautiful in an alien sort of way.

Still observing the crowd, I saw one person stand out. James. He wore a simple suit and his hair appeared to have been brushed though his face was still covered in stubble. Green eyes locked on to mine and I couldn’t look away. Words he had said to me echoed throughout the room as he held his hand out to me.

“I’m part fae….”

James’ presence in the room seemed to be important. He needed to be there, and he needed to be with me. The expansive room darkened until all I could see was James before he faded too.

Gwen appeared, in a red dress, covered in blood. Her red irises now had expanded to take up the whites of her eyes and color her pupils as well. Crimson veins spread over her light brown skin in webs and a maroon mist hung in the air.

“Something’s coming….” Her voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once even though her lips weren’t moving. It reverberated loudly in the dark expanse.

“You need to be ready for it….”

Blood began pooling at her feet, getting closer and closer to me. I couldn’t move. My feet were stuck the black ground and I began sinking into it. Panicking, I started struggling but only succeeded in sinking faster. I was chest deep into the floor, eyes locked on Gwen, when someone grabbed my hand. A familiar burn told me it was James even though I couldn’t see him. Yanking me up out of the black, blood covered ground, he held me at arm’s length.

He analyzed me, head tilted slightly to the left.

“I just can’t seem to understand why I’m so affected by you.” His green eyes flashed blue, lighting up the void for the briefest of moments. Like lightning.

“What’s his name?” An unfamiliar voice hissed out of sight. “What’s his fate?”

“There’s a reason for everything, Kyra,” James told me, oblivious to the voice. “It’s your responsibility to figure it all out. No one can help you.”

“I don’t know what that means!” I said loudly.

“Figure it out,” the disembodied voice ordered from the shadows.

\----

I woke up temporarily paralyzed. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the room was still dark except for a soft red light from Gwen, outlining her form. Forcing myself to relax, I worked to unfreeze my body, piece by piece until I could move. I sat up and took deep breaths of cool air. A light dusting of frost covered my blankets and I slipped out from under them, placing my bare feet of the floor. A thin layer of snow surrounded my bed, chilling my exposed skin.

I carefully tiptoed over to Gwen, curious about the red glow that enveloped her. Unable to resist, I reached out to her. My fingertips had only barely brushed the skin on her arm when I found myself on the ground, pinned underneath a now awake Gwen.


End file.
